Shapiro’s snub adds to the commonwealth’s constellation of consolation prizes

From Rocky’s loss to Apollo Creed to the Amazon Headquarters sweepstakes, the Keystone State has its fair share of being so close yet so far. 

The news broke Tuesday morning that Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in this year’s election – just hours before Harris and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro are set to speak at a rally in Philadelphia. 

Shapiro and Walz were seen as the likely choices as the vetting process progressed, with Shapiro seen as a strong candidate largely due to his moderate Democratic stances and his winning history in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. But alas, Harris went with Walz and many Pennsylvanians were left disappointed their state won’t be represented on the presidential ticket. 

The long-awaited announcement, and subsequent reactions, reminded us of other times in history when Pennsylvanians came up just short. Here are a few notable “oooohhhh, so close” moments in the commonwealth: 

First capital, second state

Pennsylvania’s rich history speaks for itself, but there’s one thing its neighbor to the south has over the Keystone State – being the first state. On Dec. 12, 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, just five days after the Constitution was ratified by the State of Delaware – the first time (but not the last) the commonwealth would be mentioned second. 

Philadelphia also served as the early capital of the United States after the Constitution was ratified, but on May 14, 1800, the nation’s capital moved to Washington, D.C. – in large part due to a deal between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and a compromise over slavery. 

Stock exchanged 

Philly was also the first place in the country to have a stock exchange – just the third in the world. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was established in 1790, making it the nation’s oldest. However, despite having an influential role in America’s financial and economic development, it was soon outdone by the New York Stock Exchange, founded two years later. 

Recent runners-up

We don’t have to look too far back to experience the grief of coming up short in the sports realm. Philadelphians experienced it on several levels in recent years, including the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs and the Union’s loss to Los Angeles FC in the MLS Cup in 2023 and the Phillies World Series loss to the Astros the year prior – not to mention the infamous National Championship snub of the undefeated 1994 Penn State football team. 

And with August in full swing, we’d be remiss not to include the 2015 Little League World Series team from Lewisberry in York County, which came up just short in Williamsport that year, losing to Japan in the finals. 

Presidential runs run out of steam

Quite a few native Pennsylvanians have thrown their hat into the presidential campaign ring without much success. Commonwealth-born politicians Newt Gingrich, John Kasich and Rick Santorum all made runs for the highest office in the land but didn’t make it far. Santorum even received the second-most delegates in the 2012 campaign, but still couldn’t garner enough support to surpass Mitt Romney. 

Passing up a prime location

The commonwealth’s two largest cities were among the finalists in Amazon’s highly-coveted second headquarters sweepstakes back in 2018. Both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have the talent pool, resources and geographic position to be an economic hub, but Amazon ended up passing on both, as well as New York and other major metropolitan areas, in favor of Northern Virginia.