Here’s who Stacy Garrity has picked for a running mate in the Pa. governor’s race against Josh Shapiro
Jason Richey, a longtime Pittsburgh attorney and chair of the Allegheny County GOP, announced his campaign for lieutenant governor on Thursday with Garrity's support.
Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity on Thursday announced her pick for a running mate in the governor’s race, as state Republicans mount their campaign to more seriously challenge Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in November’s election.
Jason Richey, a longtime Pittsburgh attorney and chair of the Allegheny County GOP, announced his campaign for lieutenant governor on Thursday morning. Garrity, the state party-endorsed candidate for governor, quickly endorsed him afterward.
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Garrity said Richey “rose to the top” as the best candidate to be her running mate to challenge Shapiro.
“Jason understands the potential Pennsylvania has, but only if our Commonwealth has the right leadership,” she said in a news release, noting that he shares her concerns with Shapiro’s tenure as governor. “Jason Richey will not just be an incredible running mate on the campaign trail, but a terrific partner in governing for all the people of Pennsylvania.”
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Until Richey’s announcement, few moderate candidates had emerged to run alongside Garrity. Meanwhile, other potential candidates declined to run with her in the uphill battle election against Shapiro, a popular incumbent with a $30 million war chest and a growing national profile. Garrity announced earlier this month she had raised nearly $1.5 million in the first few months of her campaign, from August to December.
Richey is running to be Garrity’s No. 2 among a field of several other potential lieutenant governor candidates, including State Sen. Cris Dush (R., Jefferson) and Bucks County businessman and political newcomer Brian Thomas. Other candidates who have considered a run for lieutenant governor but have yet to announce include former gubernatorial nominee State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin) and former State Rep. Rick Saccone (R., Allegheny).
In Pennsylvania, candidates for lieutenant governor and governor run in the primary election separately. Whoever wins the primary nomination joins on one ticket for the general election. For example, Mastriano won the primary nomination but his endorsed lieutenant governor candidate did not, leading him to run with another running mate in November. At least one of the lieutenant governor candidates — Dush — said he would run for the office in the primary election even without the party’s support.
Shapiro is expected to again run unopposed in the Democratic primary, alongside Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, the first Black person elected to Pennsylvania’s executive branch.
“We must turn Pennsylvania around now and I believe that Stacy Garrity is the person who can fix Pennsylvania,” Richey said in a release Thursday. “I’m excited to join Stacy on the ticket that’s going to save Pennsylvania. Stacy has demonstrated leadership, fiscal discipline, a deep commitment to serving Pennsylvanians and the ability to win statewide.”
In an interview weeks before he decided to enter the race, Richey said he believed Garrity should pick a lieutenant governor candidate who is politically moderate and comes from Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, the state’s population centers.
Earlier this month, Richey said a running mate who has “a little more urban understanding,” since Garrity hails from a rural part of the state, “would make a lot of sense” on the Republican ticket.
Garrity secured the state party endorsement for governor last fall, as Republicans sought to coalesce around a gubernatorial candidate after their failures to do so in 2022 led to Mastriano’s nomination to oppose Shapiro. Mastriano went on to lose to Shapiro by nearly 15 percentage points, or 800,000 votes.
Richey ran in 2022 for governor as part of the crowded GOP primary, but withdrew and did not appear on the ballot with the other nine candidates in the running.
Garrity, of rural Bradford County, captured President Donald Trump’s endorsement earlier this week, in which Trump called her a “true America First Patriot, who has been with me from the beginning.” Garrity will appear in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center on Thursday for a live taping of the political podcast RUTHLESS, alongside Fox News analyst Guy Benson.
In addition to his duties as chair of the Allegheny County GOP, Richey is a partner at K&L Gates law firm in Pittsburgh with a focus on energy law.
Richey, 54, lives in a suburb of Pittsburgh with his wife and has three sons.
Staff writer Katie Bernard contributed to this article.