Pennsylvania state Treasurer Stacy Garrity attends swearing in ceremonies after taking the oath of office for her second four-year term in the Forum Auditorium across the street from the Capitol, Jan. 21, 2025, in Harrisburg. Associated Press

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity is seriously considering a run for governor in 2026, as the GOP race to challenge Gov. Josh Shapiro heats up.

Garrity, who replaced Shapiro as Pennsylvania's top vote-getter in history when she won reelection last year, has been a leading prospect for Republican insiders hoping to more seriously challenge Shapiro, an unusually popular first-term governor. Shapiro, a Democrat, won in 2022 by 15 percentage points, or 800,000 votes, and is rumored to have his eyes on the White House in 2028.

For months, Garrity ducked questions about whether she was considering a run for governor, while potential GOP candidates like U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-9th, and failed 2022 gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, started testing the waters to run in next year’s midterm election.

But in recent weeks, Garrity has teased a bid for the governor's mansion on social media and in interviews, culminating in a speech she gave last weekend to the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Harrisburg. The conference was the first major gathering for Pennsylvania Republicans since their sweeping wins in the November election.

“The Keystone State sent President Trump back to the White House, (former U.S. Sen.) Bob Casey back to Scranton, elected a Republican attorney general for the first time in over a decade,” Garrity said.

“And next November, the Keystone State will send a Republican to the governor's mansion,” she added with a smile, pausing for applause from the audience.

Garrity is a retired U.S. Army colonel and former corporate executive who has managed to define herself by running a critical (but often unknown) state office. She has paid the state's bills with little controversy and focused on making the office's work more transparent. She has maintained a friendly working relationship with Shapiro, while remaining a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump. Over the years, Garrity, one of the only women serving statewide, has risen as a party leader in Pennsylvania.

In 2004, while serving a combat deployment in the Middle East, she earned the nickname “the Angel of the Desert” for her humane approach to running the prison at Camp Bucca in Iraq.

The field of possible GOP primary candidates has grown. State Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster, who ran in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary but eventually dropped out of the race, told reporters outside the Harrisburg conference that he has not ruled out another run.

Attendees who participated in the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference's annual straw poll overwhelmingly chose Garrity as their favorite potential GOP candidate for governor in 2026, with 41% of the 267 participants selecting her. Meuser received the second-most votes, with 9%, followed by Mastriano with 6%, state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York, with 2%, and Martin with 2%.

Several attendees said they hope Garrity chooses to run, citing her military leadership experience and tenure as treasurer as top reasons she would be a formidable opponent for Shapiro. One GOP state representative even greeted Garrity as “governor.”

“I think she would be a fantastic governor with her head on straight,” said Judy Zabel, who lives outside Scranton. “Her past has proven that she's a leader.”

“I'm partial to Treasurer Garrity,” said Ryan Klein, a senior at Pennsylvania State University and president of Penn State College Republicans. “I'd love to see her run. I think that'd be really good for the Commonwealth.”

Joe Phillips of Berks County said he wants Meuser to run, but thinks Garrity has the best chance at this point at winning a general election.

Meuser, who also spoke at the GOP leaders conference, has already begun making his likely gubernatorial pitch to voters, including in almost daily national TV appearances and in-person events like his appearance last month in Germantown, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Philadelphia that went for former Vice President Kamala Harris in November with 78% of the vote.

Stacy Garrity, the Republican state treasurer of Pennsylvania, listens during an interview at a campaign event at the Beerded Goat Brewing Co., Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Harrisburg. Associated Press File Photo

“In order for us to have an America First agenda, we've got to have the governor's office, my friends,” Meuser told the crowd. “We definitely need a governor who has a plan for Pennsylvania, not a plan for Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Pennsylvania has never had a female governor.

And Garrity, 60, has not been in Pennsylvania politics long. She won a long-shot campaign in 2020 over incumbent Democrat Joe Torsella, who outspent her 8-1. Throughout that time, she has remained a staunch Trump supporter, as evidenced by her speech last Friday praising Trump's first few months back in the White House and comparing the work she does in the Pennsylvania Treasury to stop improper payments to that of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

“Imagine what (Trump's detractors) are planning to do now that they know he means business,” Garrity said. “Because he is already bringing about results that are so great for the American people. But you know what? Terrible for illegal aliens, the deep state, and the radical leftists.”

Like all the GOP hopefuls so far, Garrity still has not said she is officially joining the governor's race. But Garrity, who is limited to two terms as the state's top fiscal watchdog, posted on Facebook this week what sounded a lot like the precursor to a campaign announcement.

“It's been an honor to serve as the first Republican Treasurer in 16 years — and the first from rural Pennsylvania in more than 40,” she wrote, adding later, “But today, I believe Pennsylvania is at a crossroads — and like many of you, I'm thinking about what comes next.”

If she enters a competitive primary, though, Garrity will likely face criticisms from other Republicans over her work with Shapiro. Garrity recently praised Shapiro and maintains a good working relationship with him. In February, appearing at a news conference with Shapiro, she thanked him for his “commitment to ensuring our families, friends, and neighbors in rural Pennsylvania are not left behind.”

The two had formed an unlikely rapport since Shapiro took office, and Shapiro may have played a role in Garrity’s reelection by declining to endorse the Democratic candidate in the race, Erin McClelland. McClelland had publicly criticized Shapiro for his handling of a sexual harassment complaint against a former top aide in his office that led to a $295,000 settlement with the victim.

Mastriano has also floated the idea of running with Garrity, possibly as her lieutenant governor, noting her statewide popularity and his grassroots supporters, a prospect Garrity has declined to comment on.