Weeks after President Donald Trump seemed to endorse him, U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser has decided he won’t run for governor next year, two sources told WVIA News on Tuesday.
The sources spoke only if they weren’t identified. ABC News reported Meuser’s decision to skip the governor’s race first on Tuesday afternoon.
Efforts to reach Meuser, 61, a Luzerne County Republican who served as state revenue secretary under Gov. Tom Corbett, were unsuccessful.
At a rally two months ago in Pittsburgh, Trump brought up rumors that Meuser, one of his staunchest allies in Pennsylvania and Congress, would run for governor.
“I'll tell you, if that's your decision, you've got my support, you know that, right? If you run, you've got my support,” Trump said. “He’s been a great Congressman. And if you run, you have my support totally and you'll win, you'll win. The people are going to get it real fast.”
Meuser had been one of three candidates most speculated about as potential challengers to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in 2026.
The others are state Treasurer Stacy Garrity and state Sen. Doug Mastriano, whom Shapiro handily defeated in 2022.
Meuser has represented most of the territory, which is now the 9th Congressional District, since January 2019.
After losing a Republican primary for Congress in 2008, Meuser served as revenue secretary from 2011 to 2015. He ran for the 9th district seat in 2018, easily defeating Denny Wolff, a Democrat who had served as agriculture secretary under Gov. Ed Rendell.
Meuser defeated Democratic challengers in 2020, 2022 and 2024 by more than 2 to 1 margins.
The 9th district, which spans all or parts of 12 counties, comprises most of the northcentral part of Pennsylvania and stretches as far south as Berks County. Garrity, a Bradford County resident, lives in the 9th.
Keith Eckel, a prominent Lackawanna County Republican, said he had not heard the news about Meuser bowing out but sees him as a longtime congressman.
“Number one, he has got a very sure position where he is,” Eckel said. “Nobody is going to take him out of that. He’s building a leadership role in Congress ... I strongly believe that with his experience and building seniority, he can have a more positive impact for a much longer time.”
