CHAMBERSBURG – PA Governor Josh Shapiro has agreed to participate in a debate hosted by ABC27 as his expected Republican challenger, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, continues to push for multiple debates ahead of the November election.

There have been a number of recent controversies involving the Shapiro administration, including a proposed Pennsylvania Department of Health regulatory rewrite, the governor’s handling of school choice, the state’s response to a measles case and the delayed state budget.

Pat Ryan of News Talk 103.7FM asked, “If you’ve got such a big lead, you think you’ve got such a big lead, and you’ve got all that dough, tens of millions of dollars more than Garrity, why on earth would you bother with any kind of debate?” 

Attorney Clint Barkdoll pointed out, “Last cycle, remember he did not agree to any debates with Doug Mastriano, and that’s part of why this is so noteworthy.”

Garrity participated in seven debates during her 2024 campaign for state treasurer, with one debate held in each Pennsylvania media market. Shapiro is not committing to the same schedule this year.

ABC27 has not yet announced a date for its debate, and the station’s report was careful to indicate that Garrity has not formally committed to the event, although she has previously sought additional opportunities to debate Shapiro.

Garrity has agreed to appear in a debate hosted by KDKA in Pittsburgh and another sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, but Shapiro has not committed to either of those events.

Barkdoll added, “The old conventional wisdom in politics is if you’re way ahead, don’t agree to any debates because you’re not going to get anything out of it. I don’t know if he may see this as a prelude. If he’s going to run for president in ‘28, he’s got to be on the debate stage. He’s going to have to sharpen those skills. Might that be part of what’s going on?”

Polling is another interesting issue. There have been conflicting polling results and commentary surrounding the governor’s race. Several recent polls have shown Shapiro with leads of 20 or even 25 percentage points over Garrity, while other reporting has questioned the reliability of polling in the race.

Barkdoll said, “ This cuts both ways. I mean, in a weird way, Shapiro may not like that. Might you have his supporters and voters that are getting complacent, saying he’s got this in the bag. We don’t need to show up and vote. That same argument could be made for Garrity voters. Hey, she’s lost. We don’t need to get out and vote. So in a way, these polls aren’t terribly helpful for either candidate when you get to the get out the vote campaign.”