Incumbent Republican Stacey Garrity is facing Democratic challenger Erin McClelland to head the department charged with safeguarding and managing the state’s money, and administering programs aimed at providing families with financial empowerment.
Before it’s used to fund various projects and initiatives, or pay state employees and cover vendor bills, the taxes and other sources of revenue collected by the state are deposited with Pennsylvania’s Treasury Department, which is headed up by the state treasurer.
Republican Stacey Garrity was elected to that role in 2020. Under her supervision, the Office of the State Treasurer serves as the custodian of more than $150 billion in state funds, and is responsible for the receipt and deposit of state monies, investment management, and oversight of all withdrawals and deposits from state agencies.
The state treasury also administers programs aimed at providing an opportunity for financial empowerment for families, municipal governments, and non-profit groups across the commonwealth. Residents can take a look at how state monies are being spent through the treasury’s Transparency Portal.
Garrity is up for reelection this year, running against Democrat Erin McClelland. Let’s take a look at the two candidates for state treasurer.
Stacey Garrity
Garrity, a retired Army Reserve colonel and three-tour Iraq veteran, was serving as vice president of a tungsten smelting plant when she beat incumbent Democratic Treasurer Joe Torsella by less than 1 percentage point four years ago. A resident of Athens in Bradford County, Garrity has aggressively promoted her office’s efforts to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners.
She also takes credit for handling state savings programs for people with disabilities and students and for pushing the governor and Legislature to increase savings in the state’s rainy day fund.
Garrity has previously made comments indicating that she doesn’t accept the results of the 2020 presidential election, a charge her campaign has denied.
Erin McClelland
McClelland, a former congressional candidate with a background in mental health and substance abuse counseling who lives near Pittsburgh, argues Garrity has tended to use her position to engage in issues related to the national, rather than Pennsylvania’s, political debate.
“I want to pull all the politics out of the job,” McClelland said. “I believe this job is an honest broker that protects the taxpayers, not a lap dog for one party or the other.”
McClelland worked as a project manager for the Allegheny County Department of Human Services between 2015 and 2024. She ran for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 12th District in 2014 and 2016, losing both races to then-incumbent Republican Keith Rothfus.
Garrity’s campaign has painted McClelland as lacking gravitas. Garrity’s much better-funded campaign received an indirect boost earlier this month when Gov. Josh Shapiro announced endorsements of several fellow Democrats but did not endorse anyone in the treasurer’s race.
Shapiro’s endorsements were for candidates who asked for his support and where he thinks he can “make the biggest difference,” a spokesman said.
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Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
