When DVJournal asked Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity if she’s considering a 2026 run for governor, she said it’s a question she gets “every single day.”
In the lastest DVJournal podcast, Garrity said a race for governor — which would likely involve challenging incumbent Democrat Josh Shapiro — “is something I’m interested in.”
“The grassroots are, you know, solidly behind me,” Garrity said. “It’s something that I think about. But at the end of the day, we’ll have to see what the people want.
“Right now, I’m focused on serving and any way that I can serve, whether it’s in this role or a different role,” added Garrity. “It’s my honor. I mean, I always say every day that I get to wake up and serve Pennsylvanians is a blessing.”
In 2020, Garrity was viewed as a longshot candidate in a tough year for Republicans. She edged out incumbent Treasurer Joe Torsella by less than 0.8 percent of the vote.
Four years later, Garrity handily defeated her Democratic challenger Erin McClelland 52 to 46 percent, receiving more votes than anyone on the ballot except Donald Trump. (He narrowly edged her out as top vote-getter by 972 votes).
Long-time Republican consultant Charlie Gerow, with Quantum Communications, said Garrity would be a “formidable candidate.”
“She obviously did extremely well in the November elections. She’s been all over the state, constantly — she’s at every wake and wedding. And that will pay off.”
Asked about the difference between running in 2020 and 2024, Garrity said last November felt a lot more like 2016.
“It was a lot different (than 2020),” she said. “People had had it. They said, ‘Basically, enough is enough.’ They were tired of being told to ‘Sit down and shut up and don’t express your opinion.’ And so, you know what? They stood up.”
Shapiro is a star in the national Democratic Party who is widely expected to run for president in 2028 and was on Kamala Harris’ vice presidential shortlist in 2024. But he’s got to get through a 2026 general election first, and he may not have as easy a time of it as he did in 2022. (His GOP opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, was underfunded and embraced far-right political positions. He lost by 15 points.)
Garrity also wants Pennsylvania voters to know that “Pennsylvania was doing DOGE before DOGE was cool,” aggressively fighting fraud and misuse of taxpayer funds.
Her office has a fraud investigation unit, as well as “a pre-audit function” to avoid making improper payments
“Just last year, we stopped $1.7 billion of improper payments,” said Garrity.
Garrity also talked up her office’s Pennsylvania Money Match program, which the legislature passed in a bipartisan vote. It allows the treasurer to automatically return unclaimed property of up to $500 for a single owner, whether or not the property owner has filed a claim.
The office sent letters in January notifying people they’d be getting checks.
“We sent almost $2 million out to about 8,000 folks,” said Garrity. In May, additional letters will be sent. “I’m hoping we get to $20 million by the end of the year,” she said. “This is brand new, and I’m super excited about it.”
One in 10 Pennsylvanians has unclaimed property, she said.
The state has $4.5 billion in unclaimed property. That includes “dormant bank accounts, rebates, old stocks and bonds,” she said. “So, after three years, by law, the financial institutions have to escheat it to the state.”
Sometimes, it takes a lot of detective work to find the rightful owners. Her staff searches databases and the internet. Garrity, a 30-year veteran of the Army Reserves who retired as a colonel, is particularly proud of the 472 military decorations, including 111 Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars, her office has returned to veterans or their families.
Another example of returned property is gold records that belonged to Jimmy Bishop, who was involved with the Jackson Five and Earth, Wind and Fire, among other groups. They found his wife and son and reunited them with his gold records. At the moment, they have some guitars signed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Rolling Stones, and Guns N’ Roses, she said.
The Treasury Department advertises and does outreach. In the last calendar year, it returned a “new all-time record of $272 million,” Garrity said.
Last year, an elderly woman in rural Pennsylvania received more than $1 million from insurance policies from her deceased husband’s policy, she said.
“We were just delighted to give that back,” said Garrity.
