Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, has announced that he and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission have reached a deal with utility companies to provide services to Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program-eligible households this month, despite the federal government shutdown.
“My administration is once again stepping up to protect Pennsylvanians from the federal government’s inaction,” Shapiro said Wednesday. “Republicans in Washington have been unable to reopen the federal government, leading to real consequences here in Pennsylvania for those who rely on federal assistance to keep their homes warm and safe during the winter months.”
LIHEAP is a federal program that helps low-income households cover their energy costs, with Shapiro’s announcement bridging a gap in November before the regular moratorium on utility shutoffs starts in December. Pennsylvania has historically received more than $215 million every year for LIHEAP.
“Last week, I signed a disaster declaration so that Pennsylvanians don’t suffer because Congress can’t do its job,” Shapiro wrote in a statement. “My administration reached out to Pennsylvania’s utility companies and got them to agree to keep the power on for our neighbors so that people are not stranded in the cold as winter comes.”
LIHEAP is potentially poised to become the next political wedge between Democrats and Republicans during what has become the country’s longest federal government shutdown in history, following disputes over pay for military service members and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and its counterpart for women and children.
Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research Director Berwood Yost, who is based in Pennsylvania, underscored how Shapiro has announced several initiatives in response to the federal government shutdown, not only for LIHEAP but also for SNAP.
“The governor faces reelection in 2026, so I imagine his primary goal for these initiatives is to signal to Pennsylvanians that he understands the hardships the shutdown is creating and that he is trying to do something about it,” Yost told the Washington Examiner. “We saw how significant affordability was as an issue in the last election, and I think he sees this as addressing that issue.”
To that end, Shapiro has similarly emphasized his campaigning for the likes of Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), who on Tuesday outperformed polls to become the next governor of New Jersey, the first time since the 1960s that voters in the state have elected a governor from the same political party for three consecutive terms, in part because of her messaging regarding the cost of living.
Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) also won her election this week to become the first woman governor of Virginia, as well as socialist Zohran Mamdani winning his election to become the next mayor of New York City, with the same message.
“It certainly won’t hurt his branding and messaging should he run for president, but I imagine these initiatives are mostly about supporting his reelection efforts,” Yost said of Shapiro.
Shapiro’s LIHEAP announcement coincides with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)’s own election success this week with Proposition 50, a constitutional amendment that will change California’s constitution so he and his state’s Democratic lawmakers can redistrict their congressional districts mid-decade before next year’s midterm elections to counteract other gerrymandering undertaken by Republican states.
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For California-based Democratic strategist Garry South, “when any governor runs for president, they boast about things they’ve done as governor that they think might appeal to voters,” for example, whether they “started this program” or “expanded that program in their state.”
“But few of these parochial bragging rights carry with them any particular national implications,” South told the Washington Examiner. “What Newsom did with Prop 50 is leagues above what any other governor can talk about because it directly affects the 2026 midterm elections, giving Democrats an enhanced chance of taking back the House, and making a national Democratic hero out of him. So, of course, other Democratic governors who are thinking about running for president in ’28 are going to be green with envy.”