September 29, 2026
Eric Hartline (left), Judy D.J. Ellich/USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
Gov. Josh Shapiro reportedly outspent Republican challenger Stacy Garrity nearly 23-to-1 this summer.
Five weeks before Election Day, the gubernatorial race between incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his Republican challenger Stacy Garrity is quite lopsided in polling, campaign funding and name recognition with voters.
Shapiro has a 20-point lead over Garrity, according to a recent poll by the Inquirer, New York Times and Siena University. The state treasurer also faces an anonymity issue, with 1 in 4 GOP voters in that poll saying they didn't even know her. That fact likely isn't being helped by the disparity in campaign finances — Shapiro reportedly raised $11.5 million more than Garrity over the summer, and he spent a lot of it on TV and digital ads.
Here's a by-the-numbers look at where the candidates stand in the race with just over a month to go.
Shapiro has zoomed past Garrity in campaign fundraising. He started the summer with $36 million, then raised an additional $13.3 million over the past few months, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported. That far surpasses Garrity's summer efforts, as she brought in only $1.8 million.
So far, most of those funds have been spent on advertising. Of the $31 million Shapiro's campaign spent from June 9-Sep. 14, $19 million went into TV and digital advertisements, the outlet said. Garrity spent $1.34 million over the summer and put $440,000 into advertising.
That means Shapiro outspent Garrity nearly 23-to-1 over the summer — and 43-to-1 in ads alone.
Despite her prominent position in state government, Garrity has struggled with gaining notoriety among voters — even within her own party. The poll published by the Inquirer was conducted from Sept. 15-21 and it showed that 26% of Republicans — and 33% of voters overall — hadn't even heard of Garrity. Meanwhile, Shapiro has been floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate and only 3% of people who were polled didn't know the governor.
Garrity took office in 2021 and was reelected in 2024. She ran unopposed in the primary and has been endorsed by state Republicans and President Donald Trump. Despite what the survey says, in 2024 she set a Pennsylvania record for the most total votes received for a statewide office, beating a mark previously held by Shapiro.
The New York Times has compiled a list of 17 polls of Pennsylvania voters that were conducted in the past year — from one that was done last September by Susquehanna Polling & Research, Inc. to the most recent one by Inquirer. Shapiro held a double-digit lead in all 17 general election surveys — with the closest margin being 13 points in a Quinnipiac University poll that was conducted July 9-13.
