The race for Pennsylvania state treasurer is frequently a sleepy affair, with lots of talk about returns on investment and projected revenues. But progressive Democrat Erin McClelland has added ideological spice to November’s contest, advocating for left wing policies in her challenge to incumbent Republican Stacy Garrity.
In fact, McClelland’s politics are so problematic, she’s running without one of the most valuable endorsements in Pennsylvania politics: fellow Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Erin McClelland
While he’s endorsed the two other Democratic row office candidates, Eugene DePasquale for attorney general and Philadelphia state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta for auditor general, Shapiro has refused to do the same for McClelland.
The reasons may be political, given McClelland’s progressive policy positions. She wants Pennsylvania to divest from holding Israel bonds in its portfolio, she wrote a piece for the left wing Daily Kos making the case for a taxpayer-funded state-run bank, and she’s pledged to “fight” against school choice if elected treasurer.
Or it may be personal, Shapiro’s response to her trashing him when Vice President Kamala Harris was considering him for her running mate.
“I want a VP pick that’s secure enough to be second under a woman, is content to be VP & won’t undermine the President to maneuver his own election & doesn’t sweep sexual harassment under the rug,” McClelland tweeted at the time, a reference to sex assault allegations against Shapiro’s long-time ally Mike Vereb. The Shapiro cabinet member was forced to resign.
Whatever the reason. McClelland has struggled to get support from Democrats, while Garrity is popular with the GOP.
Garrity served three deployments in Iraq. Her leadership at Camp Bucca earned her the nickname “the Angel of the Desert” by keeping the camp secure and American troops safe without a single complaint of abuse from Iraqi soldiers interned there. She retired from the Army National Guard as a colonel.
Garrity began her career as a cost accountant at Global Tungsten & Powders, the largest tungsten smelter in the Western world, where she became one of the two first female vice presidents at that company.
She was elected Pennsylvania Treasurer in 2020. Since taking office, she’s returned 450 military decorations to the veterans who earned them or their families, including 11 Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars.
McClelland is from Allegheny County, and she ran for Congress twice previously. She holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.S. in industrial and organizational psychology. She also worked for the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, identifying and eliminating “systematic bias.”
Garrity says her campaign is based on her record as treasurer.
“We’ve made tremendous, truly ground-breaking progress in important areas that I will build on,” Garrity said. “We returned more than $700 million in unclaimed property to its rightful owners, including a new record for the most unclaimed property returned in a single year: $274 million.
“Now that the General Assembly has passed — and Gov. Shapiro has signed — a bill to make returning such property easier, allowing Treasury to proactively reach out to owners, I will aggressively implement that law to get as much money as possible back to hardworking Pennsylvania families.
McClelland believes she can improve on Garrity’s record of returning unclaimed property, saying she would modernize that system.
“We also earned a Gold rating for our Pennsylvania 529 College and Career Savings plan – one of just two states in the country,” Garrity said. “One of the big reasons we got that rating is that I cut fees by $17 million for Pennsylvania families. I’m ready to continue building on the successes of PA 529 and our PA ABLE program, a savings program for Pennsylvanians with disabilities.
“As a member of the boards of our state pension systems, I successfully pushed for reforms – working with a bipartisan group of board members – in how these dollars are invested, cutting costs and slashing waste while increasing earnings. In everything I do, I will continue fighting for taxpayers.”
McClelland emphasized the need to improve cybersecurity.
“Municipal cybersecurity is a significant problem in the state. The National Association of State Treasurers has stated each state treasurer has a responsibility to take this on. I have released a plan for Pennsylvania’s first municipal cyber-security program, which I will immediately begin to enact after taking office.”
Garrity’s spokesman Jim Tkacik says McClelland “has projected some very problematic behaviors several times.
She wants to divest from Israel bonds, investments we’ve had for over 30 years under Republicans and Democrats.”
In a post she has since deleted, McClelland called those bonds “Israeli diaspora bonds.”
McClelland says the problem isn’t Israel, it’s the concept of investing Pennsylvania’s saving abroad.
“This is not about Israel or Palestine. This is about is it a good idea to to reengage George Bush’s cowboy diplomacy and transfer it into our investment strategy?” McClelland said in an interview this summer.
In a conversation with DVJournal, she threw Saudi Arabia into the mix, too.
“I don’t support putting state teacher’s pensions or any other state funds in direct foreign investments,” said McClelland. “I find our current agreement to put our teachers’ pensions in the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange of particular concern.”
The treasurer serves as one of 15 members of the PSERS Board, so she does not have sole jurisdiction over these decisions. PSERS and PMRS told PennLive in September that there is no direct investment in Saudi Arabia.
Asked about her proposal to start a state-owned bank, McClelland said, “There are conversations happening all over the state regarding public banks, minority-owned banks, and community development financial institutions which I will gladly join as state treasurer. I have already been in meetings and conversations with a number of people involved in determining the feasibility of a public bank in Philadelphia, as well as the lack of minority-owned banks, as there are only three in the state.”
McClelland also said if a school choice bill is passed, she will oppose it in court.
McClelland additionally faced criticism over errors in her campaign finance reports, both from Garrity and from other Democrats during the primary.
Tkacik says voters should keep in mind that the state’s top Democrat is remaining neutral in this race.
“Gov. Shapiro refused to endorse our opponent. He endorsed all the other Democrats running in Pennsylvania. This speaks to the treasurer’s approach to governance in Harrisburg,” said Tkacik.
Three third-party candidates for treasurer are also on the ballot: Troy Bowman of the Constitution Party, Chris Foster of the Forward Party, and Libertarian Nick Ciesielski.
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