Gov. Josh Shapiro spent more than $2.4 million on ads this week. His GOP opponent Stacy Garrity spent $672.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is dominating Pennsylvania’s media markets in his reelection campaign, spending more than $24 million with seven weeks left until the Nov. 3 election — and trouncing his GOP challenger, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who has spent a small fraction of that on ads.

Shapiro, a Democrat seeking reelection and potentially a 2028 White House bid, has spent more than $2.4 million per week since Aug. 25 in advertisements from his campaign war chest topping $50 million, according to media tracking firm AdImpact. One ad pitches Garrity as “Pennsylvania’s #1 fan of data centers” and in another, Shapiro boasts his efforts to cap energy costs. He’s also released a number of audience-specific ads to reach Black and Latino voters, including a radio advertisement in Spanish in the Lehigh Valley.

A clearer picture of Shapiro’s full campaign haul will become public next week, when updated campaign financial filings are due on Sept. 22. The last filing deadline for state candidates was in June. But Shapiro’s multimillion-dollar flurry of ad buys offers early insight into his strategy heading into November in a race where he holds a double-digit polling lead — and where he’s hoping to achieve downballot wins in the statehouse and critical congressional districts.

Garrity has spent just $743,000 on ad buys so far, and only $672 this week, according to AdImpact. No top GOP groups, such as the Republican Governors Association or the Jeffrey Yass-backed Commonwealth Leaders Fund, have purchased TV ads supporting Garrity, and she has struggled to fundraise to compete with Shapiro, a popular incumbent who has raised more money than any governor since at least 2010.

» READ MORE: Will Donald Trump and national Republicans help Stacy Garrity’s campaign from falling flat against Josh Shapiro?

Shapiro’s mass ad buys despite his commanding lead in the polls indicate the governor is a risk-averse politician, said Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Lehigh University.

“He’s cautious. He wants to make sure nothing goes awry, and to do that, you buy insurance,” Borick said.

“The governor has also been clear that the midterms run through Pennsylvania — and he is leading the fight to win critical races up and down the ballot in order to flip the House, put a check on Donald Trump’s chaos, cruelty, and corruption, and get even more stuff done,” said Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro’s campaign.

» READ MORE: Josh Shapiro has a 16-point lead in the governor’s race — and most Pa. Democrats would support him for president

Garrity, meanwhile, has spent the lion’s share of her ad buys on a digital social media video campaign called “Twilight Justice,” which promises the future release of bombshell details about Shapiro. She has also released an attack ad about Shapiro’s past support for data centers, but it has been seen by far fewer eyes than those Shapiro is reaching in his multimillion dollar ad campaigns. Both Shapiro and Garrity initially embraced data centers, though both have changed their positions as the projects become increasingly unpopular among Democrats and Republicans.

» READ MORE: 6 in 10 Pennsylvania voters oppose data center development, new poll finds

Matthew Beynon, a spokesperson for Garrity’s campaign, declined to comment on whether top GOP groups will get involved in the Pennsylvania governor’s race in the coming weeks. But he said any pro-Shapiro mailer or TV ad “is just another reminder to the people of Pennsylvania that Josh Shapiro sold them out.”

“All the money in the world will not help Josh Shapiro paint over his administration’s failed economic record or erase his ethics scandals that have cost the taxpayers of Pennsylvania and embarrassed the entire commonwealth,” Beynon added.

The regulation of data centers and artificial intelligence have become key issues in midterm races nationwide, including in the Pennsylvania governor’s race, where Shapiro’s past support for the projects appeared to be the biggest test of his popularity.

Shapiro changed his position last month and subsequently began running attack ads against Garrity for her past support of the unpopular centers. Garrity has also changed her position, from initially advocating for the rapid development of data centers around to Pennsylvania, to now calling for “a pause” on their development. Shapiro, in an executive order signed last month, will now require any prospective data center developers to meet a number of environmental and energy factors in order to build in Pennsylvania.

“That’s why you’ve seen this enormous ad buy that she can’t even come close to matching, when in reality, he’s as exposed as her on the issue, but she doesn’t have the resources,” Borick said.

» READ MORE: In a major shift, Gov. Josh Shapiro restricts data center development in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Republicans endorsed Garrity in September 2025 — an unprecedented early nod that helped clear the field for her as the party’s nominee. President Donald Trump endorsed her in January, calling her an “America First Patriot.” She ran unopposed in the primary election, and top GOP leaders said they wanted to wage a stronger fight against Shapiro this time than in 2022, when far-right State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin) won the endorsement in a crowded field and the state GOP largely did not financially support his candidacy.

Despite all of the additional time to drum up support, Garrity has struggled to fundraise and has yet to be able to cash in on Trump’s backing. As of Thursday, she had spent just $300,000 more than Mastriano had at this point in the race. Shapiro, meanwhile, has spent less this election than he did at the same point in 2022, when he spent $28 million as of mid-September.

“When you’re making comparisons to the amount of money Doug Mastriano raised, it’s a really troubling sign,” Borick added.

Garrity and Shapiro will face off in a televised debate on Oct. 7 hosted by ABC27.