Josh Shapiro, Influencer Governor

Among the Democratic Party’s rising stars, few have a more intuitive command of the online media ecosystem than Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Long before the party’s 2024 election defeat pushed Democrats into endless “tiny mic” interviews with social media influencers, Shapiro was quietly building relationships with local sports creators, lifestyle vloggers, and TikTokers who could expand his reach beyond political Twitter and cable news hits.

Merging his in-state political agenda with a creator-first communication strategy has become a defining feature of Shapiro’s tenure in Harrisburg, and could pay off as he enters a midterm re-election bid this fall and considers a potential presidential campaign in 2028. In 2022, his campaign’s online savvy helped him breeze past his Republican opponent, and in the years since, I’ve watched his team build one of the most sophisticated creator-engagement operations in American politics.

Since 2023, the governor has collaborated with more than 500 micro- and macro-creators across different platforms, and last year alone, Shapiro sat down for 26 podcast interviews. Some of those engagements have been sit-downs with predictable allies—friendly pro-Democrat podcasters and influencers like Meidas Touch, PoliticsGirl, Harry Sisson, and Elizabeth Booker Houston. But critically, most were not. Instead, his team has prioritized talking golf and basketball with sports vloggers, or done casual Q&As with Pennsylvania food creators and beer podcasts. He’s even ventured into less friendly territory by calling into Ted Nugent’s show to talk about hunting season. (He caught some flak for that one.) It’s all part of a deliberate strategy to put the governor’s accomplishments, personality, and policy agenda in front of audiences who’d never think to follow a politician.

“At the heart of our digital partnerships work is the governor reaching peoples’ feeds that don't follow him,” said Gavin Lichtenstein, Shapiro’s Director of Digital Partnerships. “That means creators focused on lifestyle, food tips, travel, sports, or laughs. We bring him into their spaces through their content on their terms.”

While many political comms teams still rely on formal interviews, press availabilities, and contact through creator marketing firms, Shapiro’s approach is far more hands-on. The governor’s office keeps internal lists of Pennsylvania-based creators and offers them regular ways to engage. Some have been invited to off-the-record gatherings in Harrisburg or Philadelphia to meet Shapiro and his staff. Others have received access to roundtables, policy announcements, exclusive interviews, or collaboration opportunities tied to events and initiatives. There’s also been the new annual tradition of hosting a creator-only holiday party at the governor’s mansion.  

“I try to ensure creators are comfortable and we build trust over time,” Lichtenstein said. “The governor hosts off-the-record conversations to get to know each other beyond posting content. Sometimes, no content results from the interaction, but they feel trusted, respected, and heard.”

That emphasis on relationship-building is intentional, and Lichtenstein approaches his work as a long-term investment. His team now maintains an invite-only creator Substack newsletter, called the “Pennsylvania Content Collaborative,” where they can highlight the governor’s accomplishments, showcase recent post collabs, and share messaging on a regular basis. They also have a creator-specific SMS texting line to blast out more news and content from the team. 

Shapiro’s investment in working with creators is shaped in part by his personal experience: a father of four, he’s been tuned in to how his kids and their friends consume information. “He saw the importance of it as a dad first before he was governor,” Lichtenstein said. “His kids were always spending time on YouTube and TikTok. So he’s been bought in because he knows that’s how they get reached.”

Sports creators, in particular, have become a core part of the team’s digital engagement work, partly because of the governor’s own interests. “The majority of our content collabs are with lifestyle and sports creators,” Lichtenstein said. “There aren’t too many in-state creators solely focused daily on politics…that’s more a D.C. thing. Sports, in particular, has been key to our work because the governor himself loves it and he connects deeply with them.”

As Shapiro heads into this year’s re-election campaign, his approval rating in Pennsylvania remains high, bolstered in part by this online strategy. That same approach could prove crucial if, as many expect, Shapiro becomes a contender in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary. Nationally, he’s often mentioned alongside California’s Gavin Newsom, another governor investing heavily in creator relationships as part of a broader media strategy. But unlike Newsom, Shapiro’s appearances are far less overtly political and far more grounded in Pennsylvania, giving him a unique lane to grow.

For now, though, the governor is focused on 2026, and his team’s creator work offers a clear template for how elected officials can not only campaign through influencer networks but also govern alongside them.

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