The 2026 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Pennsylvania. Democratic incumbent Josh Shapiro is seeking a second term. He is being challenged by Republican state treasurer Stacy Garrity.
Primary elections were held on May 19, 2026. Shapiro and Garrity secured their nominations unopposed. This is one of five Democratic-held governorships up for election in 2026 in a state that Donald Trump won in the 2024 presidential election. If elected, Garrity would be the first female governor of Pennsylvania.
Background
Pennsylvania is a purple state located in the Northeastern United States. A part of the Rust Belt, it was narrowly won by Republican Donald Trump in his non-consecutive second victory in 2024 after similarly narrow victories by Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump in his first election in 2016.
The state has a Democratic and Republican senator, making it one of only three states to have a split Senate delegation, while Republicans hold a majority in the state's House delegation, with ten seats to the Democrats' seven. Democrats also control the Pennsylvania House of Representatives while Republicans control the Pennsylvania Senate.
Republicans have not won a Pennsylvania gubernatorial election since 2010. Incumbent Democratic governor Josh Shapiro was first elected with 56.5% of the vote in 2022, succeeding term-limited Democrat Tom Wolf.
Democratic primary
Governor
Candidates
Endorsements
Josh Shapiro
Lieutenant governor
Candidates
Endorsements
Austin Davis
Republican primary
Governor
Stacy Garrity was the only candidate on the ballot for the Republican nomination, making her the presumptive nominee. Supporters of previous nominee State Senator Doug Mastriano launched a write-in campaign, though Mastriano had previously stated he would not run for the nomination and had not expressed support for the campaign. Mastriano ultimately received 7,980 write-in votes.
Candidates
- John Ventre, former Pennsylvania director for the Mutual UFO Network and perennial candidate (ran for lieutenant governor)
Endorsements
Stacy Garrity
Lieutenant governor
Candidates
- John Ventre, former Pennsylvania director for the Mutual UFO Network and perennial candidate (previously ran for governor)
- Cris Dush, state senator from SD-25 (2021–present) (endorsed Richey)
- Brian Thomas, businessman
Libertarian convention
Governor
Nominee
Lieutenant governor
Nominee
- John Thomas, educator and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2024
Green convention
The Commonwealth Court ordered Dastra and Bolton off the general election ballot, after failing to reach the required threshold of 5,000 signatures.
Governor
Disqualified
- Tony Dastra, former Lancaster home rule commissioner, Green nominee for mayor in 2025 and independent candidate in 2017 (disqualified; running as a write-in)
Lieutenant governor
Disqualified
- Craig Bolton, chair of the Philadelphia Green Party (disqualified)
General election
Campaign
A major issue in the general election has been the growing opposition to AI data centers, similarly experienced throughout the country. Shapiro, despite having previously supported the construction of two Amazon data center campuses estimated at $20 million the previous year and being quoted as saying Pennsylvania was "all in on AI", signed an executive order in August 2026 that implemented new regulations on them and eliminated fast-tracking of approvals to build them. Garrity has criticized Shapiro for this, claiming he "sold us out" for his prior support of Amazon's $20 million data center projects, although Garrity has similarly made comments supportive of AI data centers in the past and to which Shapiro has also capitalized on.
Post-primary endorsements
Josh Shapiro (D)
Stacy Garrity (R)
- Dave Argall, SD-29 (2009–present)
- Lisa Baker, SD-20 (2007–present)
- Camera Bartolotta, SD-40 (2015–present)
- Sheryl Delozier, HD-88 (2009–present)
- Wayne Langerholc, SD-35 (2017–present)
- Doug Mastriano, SD-33 (2019–present) and 2022 gubernatorial nominee
- Tim O'Neal, HD-48 (2018–present)
- Clint Owlett, HD-68 (2018–present)
- Kristin Phillips-Hill, SD-28 (2019–present)
- David Rowe, HD-85 (2019–present)
Polling
Aggregate polls