Pennsylvania voters handed Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro a second term, defeating Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity in a race that was barely a contest by the time polls closed. The Associated Press called it almost immediately, a sign of just how lopsided the campaign had become in its final stretch.
The call came at 8:01 p.m., just one minute after polls closed at 8 p.m., according to WITF. Spotlight PA reported the same rapid timeline, noting the Associated Press called the race just one minute after polls closed statewide. Shapiro, first elected governor in 2022, as reported by WHYY, now heads into a second term after what amounted to a dominant campaign against Garrity.
As CBS News projected the Pennsylvania governor's race in Shapiro's favor, the outcome capped a cycle in which the Democrat appeared to outpace his Republican challenger in both fundraising and the polls throughout the race, the same WHYY report notes. Garrity regularly trailed Shapiro by more than 20 points in polling, per that account, a gap that never meaningfully closed as Election Day approached.
Shapiro's Campaign and First-Term Record
Shapiro kicked off his reelection bid in January with rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, according to WGAL, which detailed how he leaned heavily on his first-term accomplishments to make his case to voters. Among the highlights the station cited: Shapiro dropped four-year college degree requirements for roughly 92% of state government jobs, and his administration reopened a collapsed section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia in just 12 days after it was damaged. The first bill he signed as governor required insurers to cover certain cancer screenings for high-risk patients at no cost, WGAL reported.
Garrity, for her part, ran on a different set of priorities. She campaigned on expanding natural gas production, cutting property and utility costs, expanding school choice, and requiring voter ID, the same WGAL account states. Those positions failed to close the gap with Shapiro, whose fundraising and polling advantage held steady for the duration of the campaign.
What Shapiro Says Comes Next
For his second term, Shapiro has promised to keep abortion legal and accessible in Pennsylvania, and he plans to hold data center developers to strict standards, according to WGAL's reporting. The Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports that Shapiro has also said that, if Democrats secure a state-government trifecta, he intends to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour from its current $7.25 — a figure that has not moved in years.
Divided government has defined much of Shapiro's first term. The state House has been narrowly controlled by Democrats since 2022, while Republicans have dominated the state Senate, Spotlight PA notes, a split that shaped how far Shapiro's agenda could advance even with the governor's office in Democratic hands. By the end of his second term, Democrats will have held the Pennsylvania governor's office for 16 years, according to the same Spotlight PA report.
Garrity's Record and What's Next
Garrity is not new to statewide success. In 2024, she won the race for state treasurer, breaking Shapiro's own previous record for the most votes received in a statewide election in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported. That victory made her one of the state's highest-profile Republicans heading into this year's gubernatorial run, even as the governor's race itself proved far less competitive than her treasurer bid once was.
