PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro didn’t get the job, but the last three weeks were quite the resume booster.

Shapiro, already a national figure, catapulted higher as he became a top contender for Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

While the process included a public vetting of the Montgomery County Democrat’s positions and airing of grievances from his detractors, the news cycle was largely focused on his strength in a critical swing state and unbroken record of winning elections, amounting to what those who have followed his rise say was a net positive for his political stock.

“Josh was just terrific, from the first day after President Biden decided to not run, up to [Tuesday] night. He’s been almost flawless,” former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said. “I think he covered himself with glory.”

Even in defeat, Shapiro had a curtain call worthy of a Hollywood script, with a hometown arena of more than 10,000 people giving him a two-minute standing ovation Tuesday as he graciously — and forcefully — took the stage to commend Harris’ pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“I’m going to be working my tail off to make sure we make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next leaders of the United States of America,” he said.

He did so again Wednesday in remarks to reporters, opening with a promotion of Walz as “the right guy for this job.”

The path for Shapiro now could go in several directions. If Harris loses the presidency in November, he’s almost certain to be a top candidate in 2028. If she wins, he’ll have a longer wait, but would only be 58 by the 2032 primary. That’s a year younger than Harris is.

Along the way, he can run for reelection, and some speculated about whether he’d join Harris’ cabinet — though he ruled out the latter on Wednesday.

In the near future, Shapiro will get a chance to showcase his rousing speaking style at the Democratic National Convention later this month, a slot he confirmed Wednesday. He’ll continue to be someone the party looks to for fundraising and surrogacy.

“It’s undeniable that he emerges from the selection process much stronger than where he started,” said J.J. Balaban, a Philly-based Democratic strategist. “He now has a national brand as an unusually popular governor and moderate Democrat of the biggest swing state in the country. That’s a good brand.”

There were signs from the beginning that Shapiro might not have been the best fit for the No. 2 role, a factor that also played out in his interview and vetting, according to people with knowledge of the process. Just missing could tarnish his track record, but losing out in part because he came off as ambitious isn’t necessarily a bad thing if your end goal is running for president.

In his interview with Harris’ team, Shapiro asked a lot of questions about the role. “He was trying to like, interview her back,” one person with knowledge of the process and Harris’ team’s reaction said.

“He’s not a No. 2,” the person said. “He just didn’t fit the assignment.”

But those who know Shapiro said his thoughtfulness is also what has made him a successful leader. He’s methodical.

”If you’re gonna do something for four, potentially eight years, it’s reasonable to ask questions about what it’s gonna be like,” a person familiar with how the conversation went said. “People who know and respect him and value his leadership, it’s because those are the kinds of things he thinks about.”

After the interview on Sunday, Shapiro also had a call with the Harris campaign acknowledging he was struggling with the idea of stepping away from being governor of the state — though he did not take himself out of contention, the person familiar with the vetting said.

Shapiro has long acknowledged he’s gravitated more toward executive roles, opting against running for Congress on two occasions.

”I wanted to be an executive. I wanted to serve my community,” Shapiro said last week.

He said the same Wednesday to reporters outside a Camp Hill coffee shop, that he loves being governor — and setting his own agenda.

“I love what I do,” Shapiro said. “I love that I get to do it on my terms.”

Alan Kessler, a prominent fundraiser in Pennsylvania for Harris, said national and state donors expressed disappointment Shapiro wasn’t the pick, and some concern about how effective Walz would be in winning the state.

But not being on the ticket means Shapiro can spend more time stumping in Pennsylvania.

“This has to be like, the worst-case scenario for Pennsylvania Republicans,” J.J. Abbott, a Democratic strategist said. “We retain our relatively new but incredibly popular and effective Democratic governor who can now put all his energy into Pennsylvania alone.”

Shapiro is also riding a wave of support from Republicans in the state who have criticized Harris for not picking him. Some of that backlash is rooted in a GOP attempt to frame Harris’ skipping over Shapiro, who is Jewish, as antisemitic.

“It’s hard to imagine that [Shapiro’s] strong stand on Israel [and] his Jewish background didn’t somehow factor into the decision,” Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, posted on X.

Democrats and many allies of Shapiro have pushed back on that narrative, pointing to reports that Harris picked Walz because she saw him as a good governing partner and someone who could appeal in the Midwest.

And Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish, a fact at times overlooked by those alleging antisemitism.

“I absolutely can’t fathom a universe in which Vice President Harris, who’s married to a Jewish man, decided not to select Josh Shapiro as her running mate because Josh is Jewish,” said Shapiro’s rabbi, David Glanzberg-Krainin of Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park. “There’s just no world in which I can conceive of that as being possible.”

Regardless, the net effect over the last 24 hours has been a lot of Republicans defending Shapiro and describing his centrist leanings as in line with Pennsylvania voters — messaging that could boost Shapiro’s case for reelection in 2026.

“Voters in Pennsylvania will see that their governor got passed over for someone not in step” with their moderate views, Bucks County GOP Chair Pat Poprik said.

But Shapiro heads back to a divided state legislature — the only in the country — where he’s met the rancor of Senate GOP leaders, including President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland. Ward has criticized Shapiro publicly through the veepstakes process for how his office handled a sexual harassment complaint against a former top aide.

On Wednesday, Shapiro was already talking about where he could compromise with Republicans to “get stuff done” — his administration’s motto. He’s ready to turn to transit funding left unfinished in the $47.6 billion budget deal last month, potentially through a deal to regulate skill games.

With no Democratic primary, Shapiro’s public vetting was intense and involved some slights from people in his own party.

The opposition against him — some of it reportedly pushed by Republicans fearful he’d get the job — was led largely by progressives who disagreed with his statements about protests over the war in Gaza and his embrace of private-school vouchers.

Abbott said opposition from the left isn’t likely to stick to Shapiro moving forward and that the governor showed he could build coalitions that include groups that have at times disagreed with him. He said the takeaway for most people will be that Shapiro was a serious contender to be vice president, “and she just picked someone else.”

And then there’s the long-standing tension with U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., whose staff reportedly warned Harris’ team off of Shapiro in the final days.

On Wednesday, Shapiro waived off the opportunity to respond.

“Throughout my career, I’ve never played small ball,” he said. “I’m certainly not gonna start now.”