State Treasurer Garrity announces bid for governor’s office
Stacy Garrity, a two-term Republican state treasurer and a decorated 30-year U.S. Army Reserve veteran who was deployed to Iraq three times, announced Monday she is running for the governor’s office in 2026.
Garrity is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is considered a possible candidate for president in the 2028 election.
Jim Hulings, chairman of the Butler County Republican Committee, said he is a fan of Garrity’s and thinks she would be a great candidate, but the committee will endorse the candidate the Pennsylvania Republic Party decides to endorse, which could be decided in a September meeting in State College.
“This is a really important race coming up in 2026. Stacy is a great candidate. We love her. She’s got the experience. She’s a very nice lady, a great speaker, but we have to wait to see who the other candidates are,” Hulings said.
He said the seven state committee representatives from the county committee will cast their endorsement votes for governor and other statewide offices at the September meeting.
“We want to pick the best person and provide our endorsement to the best person,” Hulings said.
Before becoming treasurer, Garrity served 30 years in the Army Reserve and was deployed to Iraq three times during Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom before retiring as a colonel. She received the Legion of Merit and two Bronze Star decorations.
In civilian life, she rose from accountant at Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. to becoming the first of two female vice presidents at the company, according to her campaign.
As treasurer, Garrity serves as fiscal watchdog over the state’s $170 billion in assets.
During an April visit to American Legion Post 778 in Butler Township where she returned unclaimed property to the legion — an uncashed $1,100 check from 2021 — as part of her duties as treasurer, she said she would still be in the reserves if it wasn’t for mandatory retirement.
In her role as treasurer she returned more than 450 military decorations safeguarded in the treasury’s vault to veterans who earned them or their families, including 11 Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars.
In her campaign announcement, Garrity said she will correct what she views as problems created by Shapiro. She said U.S. News and World Report has ranked the state near the bottom among all states for economy, public education and infrastructure.
Garrity said Pennsylvania has the fifth highest tax burden for families in the nation and is burdened by rising utility costs and the fastest rising food prices in the country.
If elected, she vowed to never be involved in scandals, to bring transparency to the governor’s office, to lower costs for residents, to create jobs and to serve with integrity and honesty.
She also said she is a strong ally of President Donald Trump and supports protecting health care and welfare benefits while requiring able-bodied recipients to work to keep benefits and ending benefits for those in the country illegally.
