Written by Spotlight PA’s Katie Meyer
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HARRISBURG The next major election in Pennsylvania never seems far off.
Political elites are already focusing on the 2026 governor race after the 2024 presidential contest, in which Republicans won most of the statewide contests and Democrats narrowly prevailed in the state House.
In 2022, Democratic governor Josh Shapiro, who was thought to have presidential aspirations, defeated a weak Republican opponent with ease. He raises a lot of money, has high approval ratings, and is seen as a difficult politician to defeat.
GOP officials told Spotlight PA that they think the party has a number of outstanding candidates to pick from following Republicans’ resounding statewide performances in 2024.
In reference to the elected positions of attorney general, auditor general, and treasurer, Charlie Gerow, a seasoned Republican political adviser, stated, “I don’t think they’ve done it ever, swept all three [row offices].”
Only since 1980 has the post of attorney general been elected, and throughout that time, Republicans have held all three positions for the first time.
According to Gerow, that is historic and noteworthy in and of itself. It is also more evidence that Republicans have a very deep bench, which grew and expanded during the previous election.
As Gerow pointed out, Treasurer Stacy Garrity is obviously interested in higher office, having won her reelection campaign by the most margin of any 2024 statewide candidate in Pennsylvania.
“She has been everywhere,” he said. As you witnessed in the election, she has attended every political wake and wedding for the past many years, which adds up.
Gerow went on to say that he believes the GOP has a lot of qualified candidates, including state legislators like Sen. Scott Martin of Lancaster, new Attorney General Dave Sunday, Auditor General Tim DeFoor, and congressional representatives Guy Reschenthaler and Dan Meuser.
Erin McClelland, a political outsider who won her primary in an upset and did not earn Shapiro’s endorsement, was the least well-funded Democratic candidate for the office in November. Garrity probably had an advantage in the matchup, but GOP insiders claim that doesn’t lessen her strength as a contender.
Garrity is an obvious choice for higher position, according to Pennsylvania Republican Party secretary Liz Havey.
Havey stated, “I believe Stacy will be a very serious contender if she wants to run for another office, whatever it may be.” She has gained the admiration of not only contributors but also voters and local volunteers.
Havey agrees with Gerow that the Republican Party has a strong base in Pennsylvania. However, she was especially impressed with the base of support Garrity garnered throughout this race. Garrity took advantage of McClellend’s lack of institutional Democratic support by obtaining endorsements from organizations that don’t usually support Republicans, such as building trades unions, creating what Havey referred to as an atypical coalition of support.
The treasurer is in charge of managing a sizable portion of state savings, sitting on the boards of Pennsylvania’s two public pension systems, paying state expenses for items like contracts and employees, and overseeing a variety of savings initiatives.
Garrity has mainly sided with the Trump wing of her party, although she has also expressed opinions on a variety of political and policy matters that are not necessarily pertinent to her position.
“The election from this November is tarnished forever,” she said at a rally shortly after her 2020 election but before she took office in an attempt to throw doubt on the year’s outcomes. The day before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, that demonstration took place.
Sam Chen, a GOP political strategist from the Lehigh Valley, said, “I would love to say it affected her, in the sense that I’m one of those Republicans who don’t believe the election was stolen, and actually, our firm won’t work with candidates who do.”
However, he added, we are now the party’s minority. I have no idea if it hurts Garrity.
In response to criticism from a Democratic opponent on remarks she made during the 2020 election, Garrity told Spotlight PA that she intended to convey that the electoral process had been corrupted by unelected officials who disregarded the election law in its entirety.
Chen believes that because Garrity hasn’t attempted to emulate Trump, she has done better than other Trump-aligned GOP candidates, such as state senator Doug Mastriano of Franklin County, whom Shapiro defeated in the 2022 gubernatorial contest.
Although she raised concerns about the 2020 election, it wasn’t one of her primary topics. According to Chen, she also avoids being overly dramatic.
During her first tenure, Garrity continued to adopt controversial positions. For example, she applauded the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade and the increased investment in Israel following the Hamas bombings of the previous year.
Chen said that these issues were not the main emphasis of her campaign advertisements. Her reelection campaign focused largely on subjects like boosting the transparency of her agency and restoring unclaimed property.
According to Chen, she has been able to unite all Republican groups. She is popular with both Trump fans and those who oppose him. Other Republican candidates, in my opinion, haven’t been as successful at handling that as she has.
Garrity told Spotlight PA in a statement that she is fully focused on her role as Treasurer to make Pennsylvania a better place to live, work, and raise a family, and that she is honored to have received more votes than any state candidate in history in her reelection this year.
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