As speculation around his presidential ambitions swirls, make no mistake: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is already campaigning. And his national shadow campaign isn’t powered by donors — it’s bankrolled by taxpayers.

Shapiro is sitting on a massive war chest backed by megadonors like Steven Spielberg, Reid Hoffman, George Soros and Mike Bloomberg. But election law bars him from using those funds for a federal campaign. While other potential 2028 contenders have launched leadership PACs to test the waters, Shapiro has taken a different path: weaponizing the machinery of state government to build his national brand.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Shapiro tripled the size of the governor’s communications staff compared to 2017 levels, now employing 21 full-time staffers dedicated to press, social media and influencer outreach. This sprawling, taxpayer-funded PR team costs nearly $3 million per year — not including costs for overhead, events and other hidden expenses.

The governor’s hype machine fuels a relentless PR blitz: Shapiro jets from L.A. to New York for national TV appearances, while his digital team churns out an avalanche of cringeworthy, self-promotional and often bizarre content aimed at cultivating a national fanbase.

His press secretary insists the goal is simply to “better communicate with the public.” That claim fails as Shapiro routinely dodges tough questions, evades local press and buries politically inconvenient stories.

In Harrisburg, Shapiro ducks more than he delivers. He campaigned on Lifeline Scholarships for kids trapped in failing schools, only to veto the bill during his first months in office. Today, he says he has “no position.” And when asked about the Save Women’s Sports Act, which would reserve girls’ sports for biological females, he refuses to say whether he’d sign or veto it.

Yet when it comes to national politics, he’s rarely shy. Following President Donald Trump’s order to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, Shapiro admitted, “I know foreign policy isn’t part of my job description as Governor, but …” before launching into a monologue about Iran and global diplomacy. More recently, Shapiro has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership, while insisting that America must “flood the zone” with aid to Gaza.

He’s turned the art of manufacturing controversy into a political strategy. Shapiro has made abortion a centerpiece of his national messaging, repeatedly declaring, “As long as I’m your Governor, abortion will remain legal.” But that rhetoric ignores a basic fact: No legislation to restrict abortion has been introduced, and none has even advanced out of committee in years.

Still, Shapiro’s social media feeds are flooded with hundreds of abortion-related posts, clearly aimed beyond Pennsylvania. From tweets to appearances on MSNBC, his messaging is overtly directed at out-of-state audiences. “States are on the front lines,” he declared on “Morning Joe.” “It matters who your governor is. It matters who your state lawmakers are.” It was a not-so-subtle pitch to voters far from Harrisburg.

For Pennsylvanians who disagree? He uses their tax dollars to mock and troll them — a strategy Fox News rightly dubbed a taxpayer-funded “cringe fest.”

As Shapiro chases the national spotlight, he works just as hard to keep controversy in the dark back home. His PR machine doesn’t just spend — it silences. After using $92,000 in tax dollars for luxury upgrades at the governor’s residence, including nearly $900 for an immersion blender and $2,500 for an electric dog door, Shapiro’s team pressured vendors to keep the purchases quiet.

He has built an administration defined by secrecy. Shapiro broke with his predecessors by refusing to release his daily calendar, blocking the release of basic details about his taxpayer-funded social media influencer summit, and repeatedly dodging questions about his unprecedented use of state aircraft — under arrangements described as “very concerning” by a state police official.

Meanwhile, governing takes a back seat. Shapiro pledged to work across the aisle and “get sh– done,” but he now holds the least productive legislative record of any Pennsylvania governor in at least 50 years. Polling shows most Pennsylvanians are unconvinced he’s accomplished anything.

Shapiro has done little for Pennsylvania, but a lot for his personal brand.

He’s become a fixture on national talk shows — from “Real Time with Bill Maher” to “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” On “Real Time,” he declared, “I live in the real world, where we have to balance budgets.” Yet his own bloated proposal includes $5 billion in deficit spending —  and he’s mired in a protracted impasse after failing to enact a budget by Pennsylvania’s legal deadline.

Even amid his budget debacle, Shapiro jetted to New York to banter with Colbert — ironically, just days after CBS canceled the show over its own budget deficit. The symbolism practically wrote itself.

It’s clear where his focus lies: not on Pennsylvania, but on burnishing his national image. More Hollywood than Harrisburg — Shapiro merely plays governor on TV.

Pennsylvania taxpayers didn’t sign up to bankroll his White House audition. They deserve a governor who shows up to do the job, not one who treats their state like a green room for 2028.

(Erik Telford is senior vice president of public affairs at the Commonwealth Foundation.)