Stacy Garrity could make almost $200k from Pa. insurance company board. She’d resign if elected governor.

As she vies to pull off an upset victory against Gov. Josh Shapiro in November, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity is leaning into her business background — contending that her private sector experience can help her execute a “turnaround” after “years of Josh Shapiro’s failed leadership.”

Garrity, a Republican, worked as an executive at a supplier for aerospace and defense firms before taking office as treasurer in 2021. Shapiro — a Democrat who in his first term has touted policy changes to help the state’s government run “at the speed of business” — has spent the last two decades working in politics and is rumored to be eying a White House run.

While Garrity’s business experience could help her cut a contrast with Shapiro, it also poses potential conflicts as she seeks higher office. As governor, Garrity would oversee a department that regulates a for-profit insurance company for which she’s currently a paid board member.

In response to questions from The Inquirer, Garrity’s campaign said she would resign from the board if she’s elected governor.

Garrity, 62, earned $57,290 as a board member last year, her campaign said. If a pending acquisition closes, she stands to make more than three times that amount, according to federal securities filings. Garrity’s annual salary as treasurer is $211,219, according to state records.

Garrity, who lives in rural Bradford County in north-central Pennsylvania, has also reported income from two natural gas companies. Her campaign said she receives modest royalties — it declined to give a precise figure — and would continue to do so as governor, “as it is part of her private property.”

» READ MORE: How the Pennsylvania governor’s race will help decide who controls the U.S. House

Shapiro, 52, reported in a financial disclosure that he’d received income from HarperCollins, the publisher of his memoir. His campaign declined to say how much money the governor has made from the book deal.

Under Pennsylvania law, public officials are required to disclose sources of income of $1,300 or more. They are not required to give a specific amount.

Shapiro’s state salary is $253,870.

Shapiro campaign spokesperson Manuel Bonder accused Garrity of using her public office to “rake in massive payments from insurance companies.”

He added, “Stacy Garrity cannot be trusted to lead Pennsylvania.”

Garrity’s campaign said she “has been completely transparent and followed the letter of the law at every point of her military service, business career, and now as Pennsylvania’s treasurer.”

Matt Beynon, a Garrity campaign spokesperson, called Shapiro “the least transparent governor in modern Pennsylvania history.”

Before being elected treasurer in 2020, Garrity was vice president of government affairs at Towanda, Pa.-based Global Tungsten & Powders, where she worked for more than 30 years. It is a big processor of tungsten, a metal used in everything from smartphones to bullets.

She also served in the military, retiring from the Army Reserve as a colonel in 2016.

In 2024 she joined the board of ECM Insurance Group, a Bedford County-based firm that was founded in 1913. ECM operates in 48 states and says it is the fourth largest underwriter of farm owners insurance in Pennsylvania and 12th largest in the country.

Its businesses include Everett Cash Mutual Insurance Co., 1st Choice Advantage Insurance Co., and American Reliable Insurance Co.

“With her military background, the leadership she had there, and what she’d done from a business standpoint — finding good talent is what I always look for in directors,” ECM CEO Randy Shaw said in an interview. He added that Garrity’s background as treasurer and understanding of finance added value to the board.

“We talked. She never had served on an insurance board before, but I said, ‘Well, we can educate you on the insurance side of it,’” Shaw said. “‘It’s the business practice, governance side of it that you can bring value to.’”

But Shaw actually got the idea to bring Garrity on his board from his wife, Mona, who saw Garrity speak at a business conference. She told him, “‘Man, if you wanna consider a fine lady to be on your board, you might wanna talk to Stacy,’” he said.

At Garrity’s request, the State Ethics Commission reviewed the arrangement before she joined the board. It said the Ethics Act did not prohibit her from taking the position, records show.

According to the Treasurer’s Office’s chief counsel, the treasurer has no legal authority to regulate or otherwise influence ECM’s “core business operations.”

ECM doesn’t have business with the state, Shaw said.

In October, Chicago-based insurer Old Republic International Corp. announced that it was acquiring ECM — a deal that requires approval from Pennsylvania regulators and ECM policyholders. Documents filed with the state Insurance Department show Old Republic, a Fortune 500 company, would pay at least $153 million.

“With the combined financial and operational resources available to us, we can continue to pursue our mission of becoming the preeminent farm owners carrier in the country,” Shaw said when the acquisition was announced.

Old Republic didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner, Michael Humphreys, signed an order in April approving the deal, subject to certain conditions. ECM policyholders are expected to vote at the end of June, Shaw said. If they sign off on the transaction, policyholders and other stakeholders — including Garrity — could each be eligible to buy up to $350,000 in Old Republic stock at a discount of at least 30%, according to securities filings.

Garrity’s campaign said that if the transaction closes, she plans to join an ECM advisory board. Corporate records show she would be paid $195,000 annually for five years. “However, if elected governor, she would resign her board position in its entirety,” Beynon said.

The deal “is expected to close early in the third quarter 2026 upon receipt of policyholder approval and completion of all customary and regulatory closing conditions,” Old Republic said in a May 1 regulatory filing.

ECM would continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Old Republic, subject to regulation in Pennsylvania.

The governor appoints the insurance commissioner, subject to confirmation by the state Senate.

Regulators are responsible for monitoring insurers’ finances to try to protect consumers, and approving insurance policy rates. “The governor has a lot of opportunities to influence what the Insurance Department does,” said Teresa Miller, a former state insurance commissioner under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

“I worked very closely with the Governor’s Office,” she said. “We were in constant communication.”