(The Center Square) – She earned the most votes of any statewide Republican candidate in the 2024 election, besting Gov. Josh Shapiro’s record set two years prior.
Now, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity hopes that massive popularity will outshine him again in 2026.
“And I’m giving you and your family my solemn oath that I will work hard every day to fix the problems that Josh Shapiro has created,” she said in a campaign announcement posted to social media Monday.
The decorated military veteran, who served three tours in Iraq and rose to the rank of colonel, pointed to her commitment as a servicemember and the accountability reforms she’s made since taking over as treasurer in 2021 as proof of her devotion to protecting taxpayers.
“To know just how much of a failure Josh Shapiro has been, all you need to do is look at the facts,” Garrity said, pointing to U.S. World and News Report rankings that show the commonwealth places among the worst for education, tax burden and infrastructure.
She’s the first Republican to announce a 2026 gubernatorial run ahead of the primary election season.
Shapiro, meanwhile, remains a fixture on the national stage as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. His popularity across electorates, including building trade unions and police organizations that have been skewing right, help boost his fundraising capabilities.
In the 2022 election, he trounced state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Chambersburg, by 15 percentage points after successfully positioning himself as a moderate Democratic foil to the latter’s far-right platform.
The Democratic Governors Association said Garrity isn’t all that different.
“Stacy Garrity is as extreme as they come – and with her dangerous agenda and a record of lauding DC Republicans’ disastrous budget bill, she can’t be trusted to stand up for Pennsylvanians,” said Izzi Levy, the association’s spokesperson. “Garrity’s support for a bill that rips health care away from hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians while ballooning our national deficit and killing energy jobs, gleefully celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and pushing plans to defund the public schools families across the Commonwealth rely on all make it clear that she is wrong for Pennsylvania.”
Levy added that any candidate, Garrity or not, faces “an uphill battle to take on the governor’s strong record of working across party lines to cut costs, invest in public safety, fund public education, and deliver for all Pennsylvanians.”
