State treasurer Stacy Garrity launches bid for governor, strikes at Gov. Shapiro in launch video

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Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity formally entered the 2026 race for governor Monday, immediately cementing her frontrunner status for the Republican primary — and injecting President Donald Trump into the contest.

Garrity, a two-term treasurer and retired U.S. Army colonel, framed her announcement as a referendum on Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, accusing him of prioritizing national ambitions over state needs.

“I will work hard every day to fix the problems Josh Shapiro created,” Garrity said in her launch video. “I’m giving you and your family my solemn oath that I will work hard every day to fix the problems Josh Shapiro has created.”

The video goes on to accuse Shapiro of “spending his time running for president and fundraising in California and other liberal states, raising money from far left, mega donors like Bloomberg and Soros.” Garrity also blames Shapiro for the late budget, which is now more than six weeks behind deadline.

If elected, Garrity would be the state’s first female governor.

Positioned as the frontrunner

Political strategist Sam Chen of the Liddell Group told WHYY News that the tone of Garrity’s announcement reflects an effort to position her as the obvious nominee.

“She needs to come in assuming the mantle of the front-runner and hold that through the primary,” he said. “So it’s very aggressive against the governor. She is very focused on the general which, from a pure strategic point of view, is what she needs to do.”

However, Chen added that he felt Garrity should have spent more time talking about her own credentials, such as about her military record and her accomplishments as state treasurer and less about the late budget, which is too “inside baseball.”

“I learned more about what she dislikes about Josh Shapiro than I learned about who Stacy Garrity is,” he said. “And that’s very dangerous for an intro video. I think she needs to spend a lot of time introducing who she is.”

As state treasurer, Garrity is credited with upgrading Pennsylvania’s unclaimed property system, overseeing record distributions, and steering investment funds away from Russia and China. Last year, she won reelection with more votes than any statewide candidate in history.

Primary challenge

Her entry sets up a potentially bruising GOP fight against her erstwhile ally, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who has been teasing another run, even floating the idea of joining Garrity on a ticket as recently as Monday.

But many Republican strategists doubt his viability after he lost by 15 points in his run against Shapiro in 2022, possibly the result of Mastriano’s extremely conservative views.

“He was a disaster as the nominee and we’re not going to go down that road again,” consultant Christopher Nicholas previously told WHYY News.

Democrats argue that Garrity holds similar extreme positions, however, having spoken at a rally questioning the 2020 election results, celebrating the fall of Roe v. Wade, and selling “pro-life” merchandise. She has also publicly supported the “One Big Beautiful Act,” — despite having no requirement to do so as a state official — which Democrats like the governor and other critics in Pennsylvania say is responsible for lost healthcare coverage, shuttered  hospitals and job cuts.

“Pennsylvanians are about to learn just how extreme Stacy Garrity really is,” Jack Doyle, director of PA Accountability Hub. “After a career of embracing toxic policies and pushing radical conspiracies, Garrity went out of her way to champion an extreme agenda that would hurt Pennsylvania families, take away their health care, kill energy jobs in the Commonwealth, and jack up energy costs. Stacy Garrity is exactly the kind of politician Pennsylvanians have rejected time and time again.”

Chen says, however, that while Garrity and Mastriano may share similar views on many issues, Garrity “has a track record of governing. Mastriano really doesn’t.”

“Mastriano tries to be a mini Trump, and that does not work,” he said. “It works for Donald Trump because he’s Donald Trump. Garrity very much tries to be who she is, and that’s worked well for her. So I think there’s a pretty big difference in willingness to govern and governing style as well as a personal style.”

Chen said that he didn’t feel that the abortion issue would “take center stage” in the race, pointing out that many pro-life Republicans have won statewide races, most recently David McCormick’s election to the U.S. Senate.

“Our laws didn’t change post Dobbs v. Jackson,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade and made abortion the legal domain of the states. “People can talk about it, but the reality is life hasn’t changed in Pennsylvania with regards to that issue.”

‘Strong ally of President Trump’

In the video, Garrity stresses that she is “a strong ally of President Trump” and that she and the president believe that “able-bodied recipients” should be required to work for their health care benefits and “those here illegally” shouldn’t receive any.

Chen says that Garrity has a narrow line to straddle: She must ensure that she doesn’t alienate Trump supporters but not come off too MAGA to win a general election against an incumbent who is currently very popular, even among many Republicans and independents.

While Garrity and Mastriano have positioned themselves as Trump allies, Trump has not endorsed either, or even pre-endorsed as he did for U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser. “If you run, you’ll have my support totally, and you’ll win,” Trump said of Meuser in May.

However, Garrity appears to be the GOP’s most popular statewide figure, with grassroots backing and support from party insiders eager for a stronger challenger to Shapiro. In private emails to state committee members obtained by The Inquirer, she warned that nominating a weak candidate at the top of the 2026 ticket could cost Republicans control of Congress.

Shapiro, who is speculated to be a possible 2028 presidential candidate, brushed off the GOP sparring. Asked about Garrity’s entry at an event, he brushed off what he called “political games” and said he was focused on “creating jobs here in the commonwealth.”

“I’m going to fund our kids’ schools,” he told reporeters. “I’m going to make sure that we have more cops on the beat, and I’m going to focus on doing my job bringing Republicans and Democrats together to get stuff done. That’s my focus.”