HARRISBURG — A number of top Pennsylvania Republicans — from county party chairs, to state lawmakers, to a top GOP donor — are encouraging Treasurer Stacy Garrity to run for governor in 2026.

The Pennsylvania GOP, coming off big successes in the November 2024 presidential election, hopes to now make a serious attempt at winning the governorship. It will be an uphill battle. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro won by 15 percentage points in the 2022 election, and remains an unusually popular first-term governor. And whoever challenges him in 2026 will have to defeat his name recognition — appearing on statewide ballots, as a candidate for governor and attorney general, for more than a decade — as well as his multibillion-dollar war chest.

So far, the 2026 GOP race for governor has a few contenders deciding whether to run. Potential candidates who have said publicly they are considering challenging Shapiro include Garrity, U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and former GOP nominee State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin. President Donald Trump, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, said earlier this month he would back Meuser, should he decide to run.

But that hasn’t stopped Garrity from getting big names in Pennsylvania to back her, even as she mulls whether she’s officially in the race.

Among the most prominent people encouraging Garrity to run is Bob Asher, a businessman and top GOP donor and adviser. He said he believes Garrity has proven herself as a strong statewide leader who would be an “excellent” governor.

“She now has the statewide exposure and statewide experience to take the next step and become governor,” Asher added.

Her notable supporters point to a few key themes as to why she’d be the best to take on Shapiro: her recent reelection win — in which she received the most votes of any statewide candidate in state history — her productive time as treasurer returning millions in unclaimed property to Pennsylvanians, and her decades in the U.S. Army Reserves until her retirement as a colonel.

“I’ve told her, ‘Please run,’” said Kathy Kemp Jensen, the Warren County GOP chair. “I honestly think that she could beat [Shapiro], and I think she would do a fantastic job as governor.”

“She’s as tough as they come,” said State Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Allegheny, noting her military experience and annual visits to all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. “She wasn’t expected to win [treasurer] in 2020, but she worked her tail off. And I know she’d work her tail off running for governor.”

While Garrity has not made a final decision on whether she’s in, her campaign last week touted a list of nearly 40 state representatives, state senators, county GOP chairs, or influential Republicans who the campaign said have encouraged her to run.

But it appeared that some of those supporters, too, had not yet made up their minds. Some Republicans on the list, reached Friday by The Inquirer, said they think Garrity is the best choice for the GOP in 2026, while others said they support both Garrity and Meuser. Almost all of them say they oppose Mastriano running for a second time, after he lost to Shapiro in 2022 by a wide margin.

Those who favor Garrity over Meuser said they believe she has better statewide name recognition, and they have fears of losing narrow GOP control in the U.S. House if Meuser does not run for reelection in his safely Republican district in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

And her supporters were almost all clear: They do not want Mastriano to run again.

“I don’t think ‘two time’s the charm,’” said Steve Adams, the Wayne County GOP chair. “I supported Doug, but I think Stacy’s the one this time.”

Meuser, for his part, said he will make a decision about whether he will run soon and he is grateful for Trump’s support if he does.

“With that being said, Treasurer Garrity is a tremendous public official who I admire greatly,” Meuser added. “The most important thing for the GOP is to win back the governor’s office, and that will take a unified campaign, regardless of who the nominee is.”

Mastriano did not respond to a request for comment. The former GOP gubernatorial nominee and fellow retired U.S. Army colonel has floated the idea of running with Garrity in some capacity to turn out their grassroots supporters to beat Shapiro, which Garrity has not commented on.

A spokesperson for Shapiro declined to comment.

Garrity, in a statement, said it’s humbling to receive support from across the commonwealth for her potential candidacy and she will decide “in the next few weeks” whether she will run.

“Seeing this outpouring of support certainly gives me a lot to think about,” Garrity added.