Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke during a press conference outside the governor's mansion after a portion of the property was damaged in an arson fire on April 13, 2025 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Commonwealth Media Services/Getty)
Gov. Gavin Newsom, also considered a likely 2028 presidential contender, said it was "disturbing and disgusting" that someone set fire to Shapiro's home while his family slept.
The National Governors Association Chair, Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., another potential 2028 presidential candidate, condemned the attacks in a joint statement with Vice Chair Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., on Sunday, extending solidarity and support "on behalf of the nation's governors" to Shapiro.
"We strongly condemn all acts of violence and ask our citizens to rise above these kinds of destructive actions," the governors said in a statement.
A 2023 Reuters study revealed the United States is experiencing the largest sustained increase in political violence since the 1970s. Exactly nine months before Shapiro's family was targeted in their home – just across the critical presidential battleground state – an attempted assassin fired shots at President Donald Trump as he addressed a crowd of supporters, shooting Trump in the ear and killing Corey Comperatore, a Pennsylvania father and former fire chief.
Extensive fire damage to the Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion and Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)
"This type of violence is not okay," Shapiro told reporters outside the damaged governor's mansion on Sunday. "This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society, and I don't give a damn if it's coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not okay and it has to stop. We have to be better than this. We have a responsibility to all be better."
"No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly," Shapiro said, although no motive for the attack has been released by authorities beyond Balmer "harboring hatred" toward Shapiro.
Fire damage at the Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion and Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence. (Commonwealth Media Services)
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Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Penn., who have both said to expect announcements this summer on whether they will challenge Shapiro in Pennsylvania's 2026 gubernatorial election, thanked law enforcement as Meuser condemned the violence.
Vice President JD Vance, who could be the future of Trump's Make America Great Again movement and could potentially face off against one of the Democratic governors in 2028, thanked God that Shapiro and his family were not harmed during the attack and called it "disgusting violence."
Trump responded to the arson Monday, telling reporters, "Certainly, a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen."
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/potential-2028-presidential-rivals-rally-behind-shapiro-after-arson-governors-mansion