Ray Mikesell was serving breakfast in his restaurant in the Strip District here when he first met Josh Shapiro while he was running for governor two years ago. Although Mikesell is a conservative Republican from western Pennsylvania and Shapiro is a liberal Democrat from the Philadelphia suburbs, Shapiro made a good first impression. Mikesell shared his concerns as a small businessman dealing with rising crime in the city, inflationary costs, and difficulty finding workers. Shapiro listened carefully and outlined some of his policy solutions.

“I thought he had a balanced perspective and I was impressed,” Mikesell recalled. “I really thought he would do a lot of good.”

An acclaimed local chef known for his “Sunday Supper” events that draw people from all over the region to break bread together the way families used to, Mikesell said his view of Shapiro changed abruptly when he watched a clip of him on MSNBC last week discussing former President Donald Trump.

“I’m sick and tired of Donald Trump sh*t-talking America,” said Shapiro.

“As soon as I heard him bashing Trump all that goodwill went out the window. It wasn’t even about him going after Trump, I mean show a little decorum, you are the governor of Pennsylvania and you are supposed to set an example, be a leader,” he said, adding that if this is the kind of vice presidential nominee Shapiro would be, Mikesell wants none of it.