State Treasurer Will Tackle Pa. Gov. Shapiro, GOP Insiders Tell Newsmax

Last week, Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity got swatches of publicity throughout the Keystone State when she said "I have made a decision" about running against incumbent Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro.

But the Republican two-term official would not say what that decision was.

Privately, however, several Republican insiders throughout Pennsylvania say that Garrity, 61, and a U.S. Army reserve colonel, has decided to tackle Shapiro — easily one of the rising Democratic stars and reportedly the runner-up to be Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate in 2024.

"She is going to run," Lowman Henry, head of the conservative Lincoln Institute, told Newsmax. Henry, who organizes the annual conservative conclave known as the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference (PLC), also said "expect a formal announcement in two weeks."

Former State Rep. Curt Schroder, a leading Pennsylvania conservative, told us "I do not have anything from the inside, but everyone — and I mean everyone -- expects that she is [running]. Especially since [conservative Rep.] Dan Meuser announced he will not be seeking the office."

Both Meuser and Garrity are considered strong conservatives and supporters of President Donald Trump. At the PLC dinner in Harrisburg, Pa., earlier this year, both sat at the same table and freely discussed their prospective candidacies with Newsmax. At the time, Garrity and Meuser both made clear they would not run against one another.

The plans of 2022 nominee and State Sen. Doug Mastriano are unclear at this point. After a campaign in which he was linked to the Jan. 6 protest over the 2020 election results and past statements on abortion and Christian nationalism were amplified by opponents, Mastriano lost to Shapiro by a margin of 57%-42%.

But Mastriano — like Garrity — still maintains a formidable following among many Republicans. He has yet to reveal his plans or criticize Garrity, recalling how he and wife Rebecca were among her earliest supporters when she first ran for treasurer in 2018.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Click Here Now.