With speculation swirling around a possible vice presidential ticket slot alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, what is in place for the Keystone State should Gov. Josh Shapiro be added to the Democratic ballot opposite Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance?

For openers, there is no “resign-to-run” law in the Commonwealth, meaning that the governor can continue in office while campaigning for a potential Harris-Shapiro ticket in the fall.

There is also no law prohibiting Shapiro from exercising his gubernatorial power while campaigning nationally. According to Quinn Yeargain, 1855 Professor of the Law of Democracy at Michigan State Law School, Pennsylvania is one of 22 states that allows its chief executive to continue to have these powers.

Twenty other states have laws in place where gubernatorial power automatically transfers to the next-in-line. One of those is North Carolina, home of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper who is also on the “short list” of vice presidential candidates along with Shapiro.

Under this law, whenever Cooper leaves the state, gubernatorial powers are given to the Lieutenant Governor – in this case, far-right Republican Mark Robinson. Robinson could make appointments or issue executive orders when Cooper leaves North Carolina, so this is one reason that Cooper seldom ventures outside the Tar Heel state.

Michigan also falls under this category, presenting problems for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who stated earlier on Monday that she was not interested in the VP job. Arizona is in a similar position, but that would not impact another potential choice for the second slot in Sen. Mark Kelly.

A lot of governors are potential running mates for Kamala—but how would their selection affect day-to-day governance in their states? In many states, governors cannot exercise power once they leave the state, and their successor temporarily takes over. I mapped it out here. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/gdOnYxYoSa

— Quinn Yeargain 🥥🌴 (@yeargain) July 21, 2024

In Pennsylvania, should the Democrats retain the White House in November and Shapiro moves onto Washington, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis would assume the governor’s role, while Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) will take over as Lieutenant Governor and become President of the Senate.

Presently, the GOP has a majority of seats in the Pennsylvania Senate, 28-22. Should Democrats be successful in their quest to flip three seats, the chamber would be evenly split at 25 apiece.

In this situation, with Ward as LG, Republicans would continue control the chamber’s agenda, determine committee assignments, and select the president pro tempore. Davis would be able to cast tiebreaker votes on amendments or procedural questions. However, he would not be able to vote on the final passage of a bill, meaning Democrats and Republicans would need to find common ground to pass legislation.