The Pennsylvania GOP plans to endorse challenger to Josh Shapiro in September, gearing up for 2026
Treasurer Stacy Garrity said she has an announcement about her political future ‘very soon.’
The Pennsylvania Republican Party plans to endorse a candidate for governor in September — nearly half a year earlier than in the past — in an attempt to learn from its 2022 losses and capitalize on its 2024 successes.
That endorsement could likely be for Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who is expected to announce a bid for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Republicans are motivated after a successful 2024 election in the state, where they swept the row offices, flipped two House districts, ousted a longtime Democratic senator, maintained a majority in the state Senate, and helped President Donald Trump soar to victory.
During that election, Garrity set a Pennsylvania record for total votes for a state-level candidate with more than 3.5 million votes cast for her reelection as treasurer, surpassing a record previously held by Shapiro.
But the last gubernatorial race, which took place in 2022, didn’t go so well for Republicans. The state party did not endorse a candidate for governor that year, and the ultraconservative State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin) won the primary and went on to lose the general election to Shapiro by 15 points. The party also faced down-ballot losses.
The party has historically endorsed candidates in January or February of the election year but decided to make endorsements for the 2024 races a year ahead of time, said State Sen Greg Rothman, who was elected chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party in February.
He wants to replicate that for the 2026 governor’s race.
“We had a pretty good model in the last election where we endorsed [Attorney General] Dave Sunday and Stacy Garrity and [Auditor General] Tim DeFoor, but also Dave McCormick a year out, which just gives the candidates and the party time to be united to get their message out to the voters,” he said.
Endorsing a candidate early can help the GOP avoid messy intraparty clashes, and it can also help the party ensure the front-runner is someone they believe can actually win the state. Republican voters will choose a nominee next May for what will be a closely watched governor’s race, given the state’s strategic importance in presidential campaigns and Shapiro’s stature in the national Democratic Party.
No one has officially announced a candidacy in the race, but Garrity is the clear front-runner for the endorsement now that U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, who had the support of Trump, said last week that he is no longer interested in running. Garrity would be the state’s first female governor if she runs and wins.
“I have had many conversations, almost on a regular basis, with Treasurer Garrity, and she is who will make that decision when she makes that decision,” Rothman said.
Mastriano said he is considering another run, but dozens of top GOP leaders in the state have encouraged Garrity to run and many said they oppose a Mastriano rematch.
And Garrity was also popular when Meuser was mulling a run.
Among 267 straw poll participants at a GOP leadership conference in Camp Hill in April, 41% said they would support her as the gubernatorial candidate. Meuser had the second-most support, at 9%, and the four other potential contenders received even lower single-digit percentages.
Though she ducked questions for months about whether she plans to run for governor, she has teased interest in the role recently.
She said with a smile that the state will elect a Republican governor in 2026 in a speech at the April conference, pausing to soak up applause. She is term-limited from running for treasurer again, and noted in a Facebook post that she’s “thinking about what comes next” when her time in the treasurer’s office is over.
In a statement Monday, she said she “will have an announcement about the future of my career in service very soon.”
Allies of Shapiro have picked up on the GOP’s early strategizing for 2026 and Garrity’s potential to secure early establishment support.
Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, released a statement on Sunday warning that the powerful union will use “the full force of our members and resources” to defeat Garrity if she decides to run, calling Shapiro the union’s “friend and champion” of working people. He also attacked her support of Trump and his controversial budget package.
“Should Treasurer Garrity make the foolish decision to challenge our Governor, she will never again have the support of the Philadelphia Building Trades,” he said. “Not even for county dog catcher.”
The union endorsed Garrity’s reelection campaign for treasurer in the general election last year after the Democratic nominee for treasurer, Erin McClelland, publicly criticized Shapiro.
Garrity and Shapiro have had a cordial relationship in Harrisburg, but if she launches a campaign for governor it could test their peace.
The state GOP will hold regional caucuses with straw polls before a state committee meeting in State College on Sept. 19 and 20.
“If all goes well, we’ll have a vote on the 20th,” Rothman said.