HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) \u2014 Stacy Garrity is the likely Republican Party candidate for governor, and there\u2019s no doubt who she\u2019s targeting less than 11 months away from Election Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh Shapiro\u2019s failures have driven us into mediocrity,\u201d Garrity said. \u201cI don\u2019t accept mediocrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s the current state treasurer and, despite being elected twice to a statewide office, many voters are asking who she is. Appearances like the one she made Monday at a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon, no doubt, help.<\/p>\n
At the event, she worked on her message that Pennsylvania can be doing better than it is under the Shapiro administration. The economy, infrastructure, and education all need a boost, she said, citing the state ranking 39th in education nationally but ninth in spending per student.<\/p>\n
Close<\/a><\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Watch for us in your inbox.<\/p>\n Subscribe Now<\/p>\n Like many Republicans, she champions school vouchers. So did Shapiro, she argued, until he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cJosh Shapiro has held not one, not two, but three positions on school choice,\u201d Garrity said. \u201cI hold one position that parents, not bureaucrats, make the best decisions for their child\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n Garrity didn\u2019t deny election denial after the 2020 election<\/a>. Instead, she suggested it was a whimsical comment to the president.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was at a Trump rally, and it\u2019s, you know, those are kind of fun things,\u201d Garrity said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s easy to get caught up in a Trump rally.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pennsylvania Democratic Party seized on Garrity\u2019s comments, releasing a statement calling her \u201cGaffe-ing Garrity\u201d and saying she \u201chas still never publicly said out loud that Donald Trump did not win Pennsylvania nor did he win the 2020 election.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGarrity made it clear Pennsylvanians cannot trust her to do what\u2019s right for working families,\u201d the state party added.<\/p>\n But Garrity pledged more cooperation with the Trump administration on SNAP benefits and voter roll inspections. Shapiro has sued to block efforts by Trump<\/a> to withhold funding for the food-assistance program and resisted releasing voter rolls<\/a> to the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very interesting to me that all of the red states have provided the voter rolls and all of the blue states have not, and so I just have to ask myself, what is the reason for that?\u201d Garrity said.<\/p>\n Past Republicans have been tripped up on a tougher topic for conservatives: Abortion.<\/p>\n \u201cI am pro-life, but I am for exceptions,\u201d Garrity said. \u201cNow, the only extreme position is my opponent, who believes that you should be able to have an abortion for any reason, at any time, using your taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n Democratic analyst Danielle Gross gave Garrity\u2019s speech a C-minus, adding she needs some improvement as she continues to hit the campaign trail.<\/p>\n