What’s at stake? Stacy Garrity has been in charge of billions of state dollars at the helm of the state’s Treasury Department since 2021. She’s the first Republican to hold the post in 15 years; Democrats hope to regain control of the office responsible for state investments, unclaimed property and college savings programs. Erin McClelland, who ran a mostly self-funded campaign in the Democratic primary, defeated the party-backed Ryan Bizzarro. McClelland and Garrity both boast endorsements from various unions: The incumbent, a former military police officer, has the backing of law enforcement groups.
Further reading: “Race to watch: Contested race for Pa. treasurer” (Kenny Cooper, WHYY)
“Israel Bonds divide Pennsylvania treasurer race” (David Rullo, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle)
“She beat the party-backed candidate for Pa. treasurer. Donations are starting to roll in.” (Katie Meyer, Spotlight PA)
“Andrew Yang endorses candidate for Pennsylvania state treasurer” (Oliver Morrison, WESA)
"Gov. Josh Shapiro won’t endorse the Democratic nominee for treasurer, who criticized him during VP talks" (Gillian McGoldrick, Philadelphia Inquirer)
Nick Ciesielski
Nick Ciesielski says the Libertarian Party’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic inspired him to jump into third-party politics in Georgia. The Pennsylvania native returned to the Keystone State and now chairs the Westmoreland County Libertarian Party. He’s a cryptocurrency owner and founded the party’s Bitcoin Caucus.
Party: Libertarian
Place of residence: Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County
Education: B.S., Carnegie Mellon University
Current occupation: Mechanical Engineer
Links: Website | Facebook | X | Instagram
Total fundraising (reported as of 9/30/24):
Total raised (2024): $468.64
Total spent (2024): $468.64
WESA Candidate Survey:
Should a state treasurer weigh social or moral concerns when investing funds, or simply focus on the rate of return an investment is expected to make? Under what circumstances, if any, should such concerns guide investment decisions as treasurer?
Weighing social and moral concerns are two different things. I believe that investment funds should not be used as a tool to force social agendas through a backdoor. I do believe that public money should be kept out of investments where it might be used in contravention of the non-aggression principle, which includes not using public funds to invest in foreign governments, where that money could be potentially used in morally abhorrent ways with no accountability to the Pennsylvanians whose money is being used.
Previous budget fights between the executive and legislative branches have dragged on for months, requiring the treasurer's office to extend lines of credit to keep government coffers from being drained. What role, if any, do you believe a treasurer should have in those disputes?
The treasurer should hold the legislature’s feet to the fire and force them to do their jobs and pass a fiscally responsible budget. This means refusing to extend lines of credit to cover for them.
More broadly, to what extent do you see the treasurer's office acting as a check on power of the legislature and the governor, or as a watchdog over how money is spent? How do you think the office should carry out those roles?
The treasurer is an elected position to allow voters a direct check on the power of the legislature and governor. This means ensuring that spending remains within our means and not allowing the legislature to force future Pennsylvanians to pay for the spending of today. This also means standing firm and refusing to allow money to be spent on actions by the legislature and governor that violate the rights of Pennsylvanians.
While the treasurer's office gets less attention than some other elected posts, it does have public-facing services such as returning unclaimed property and operating the state 529 college-saving plan. If given a four-year term, what, if anything, would you hope to do to improve those services?
Returning property to its rightful owner is something that I believe is important. The online search process felt straightforward to me. The biggest thing I can think of is just educating Pennsylvanians that this service exists. Beyond this, the only concern is that records are accurate, and the claims process is quick and simple. For the state 529 program, the biggest change I can think of is allowing more investment choices, including alternative assets like Bitcoin.
Legislators are currently weighing a proposal to create a retirement-account program, Keystone Saves, for Pennsylvanians whose employers do not provide one. What’s your feeling about that proposal, and what do you think it needs to work?
While I want as many people as possible to have access to tax-advantaged retirement programs, I do not believe that this needs to be done through a government-administered program. The better solution would be to ensure that small employers can easily pool their resources with other small employers to split the costs amongst themselves. This will allow employers to have control over their programs and promote competition for service. I would be happy to use the office of treasurer to provide educational materials and help facilitate matching employers with possible pools and providers.
Chris Foster
Chris Foster is flying the centrist banner of the Andrew Yang-founded Forward Party for state treasurer. (A relatively new political group, the Forward Party came to life in 2021 after Yang’s failed Democratic presidential bid.) Foster is a Pittsburgh-area entrepreneur who works in real estate. He hopes to court Pennsylvania’s growing independent-voter segment for this state row office.
Party: Forward
Place of residence: Highland Park, Pittsburgh
Education: B.A., Marist College
Current occupation: Real estate sales associate
Related experience: Has experience in real estate, regulatory compliance for clinical research; has handled finances for “thousands of clients”; previously a tennis professional.
Supporters/endorsements: Former Democratic presidential candidate and Forward Party founder, Andrew Yang.
Links: Website | Facebook | LinkedIn
Total fundraising (reported as of 9/30/24):
Total raised (2024): $2,977.88
Total spent (2024): $0
WESA Candidate Survey:
Should a state treasurer weigh social or moral concerns when investing funds, or simply focus on the rate of return an investment is expected to make? Under what circumstances, if any, should such concerns guide investment decisions as treasurer?
As an independent state treasurer, I will bring an informed and neutral perspective to managing the state purse, accountable first and foremost to the people of the Commonwealth. Thankfully the role of the treasurer is well-defined; to advance the best financial interests for the state and all of its citizens. My commitment is to promote sustainable, long-term growth to the people of PA. Aligned with the Forward Party's independent and sensible approach, I will always promote fiscal responsibility, accountability, and transparency — while weighing social concerns when they align with the long-term interests of the Commonwealth and its citizens.
Previous budget fights between the executive and legislative branches have dragged on for months, requiring the treasurer's office to extend lines of credit to keep government coffers from being drained. What role, if any, do you believe a treasurer should have in those disputes?
The Treasury must stand firmly in its apolitical role and remain focused on maintaining fiscal stability for the Commonwealth. While budget disputes between the executive and legislative branches may arise, the Treasury should not be a participant in those political conflicts, and must uphold [the] office's independence, ensuring that essential government functions continue without interruption. This approach ensures that trust in the Treasury remains intact and that the office operates transparently, free from political influence or partisanship.
More broadly, to what extent do you see the treasurer's office acting as a check on power of the legislature and the governor, or as a watchdog over how money is spent? How do you think the office should carry out those roles?
The treasurer’s office should act as a check on power only within the limits of its mandate: promoting fiscal responsibility, ensuring accurate accounting of state debt and assets, maximizing return on investments, and operating transparently. The office isn’t intended to be a political player, but rather a steward of public funds. As treasurer, I would uphold this role by conducting thorough audits, ensuring state finances are managed prudently, and maintaining transparency for the people of Pennsylvania. By staying focused on these responsibilities, the office serves as a safeguard for the Commonwealth’s fiscal health without overstepping its defined role.
While the treasurer's office gets less attention than some other elected posts, it does have public-facing services such as returning unclaimed property and operating the state 529 college-saving plan. If given a four-year term, what, if anything, would you hope to do to improve those services?”
I will simplify processes, boost public awareness, and expand outreach to ensure every eligible citizen can reclaim unclaimed property or benefit from state savings programs. I would prioritize enhancing the 529 plan to increase educational opportunities, generating long-term benefits for individuals and the Commonwealth. Drawing on my real estate experience and expertise in working with industry stakeholders, I will improve how we connect Pennsylvanians with their unclaimed property and streamline administrative hurdles. By making these services more efficient, we can better serve the public and secure a stronger financial future for all.
Legislators are currently weighing a proposal to create a retirement-account program, Keystone Saves, for Pennsylvanians whose employers do not provide one. What’s your feeling about that proposal, and what do you think it needs to work?
My feeling about that proposal is that it can not come soon enough. The Keystone Saves proposal cannot come soon enough and should be a top priority for any future state treasurer. Too often, retirees wish they had started planning sooner for their post-working years and how they would support themselves. Having spent most of my career as an independent contractor, I understand the challenges of saving for retirement without an employer-backed plan. To succeed, Keystone Saves must focus on ease of use, low fees, and broad accessibility, empowering Pennsylvanians to take charge of their financial future and retire with greater security.
Stacy Garrity
From Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier, Republican Stacy Garrity is a military veteran who served three overseas tours and worked for a refractory metals powder business on the homefront. In her 2020 run for treasurer, Garrity upset incumbent Democrat Joe Torsella, who reportedly out-fundraised her and often led her in the polls. She has aligned herself at times with former President Donald Trump and appeared with him at several events.
Party: Republican
Place of residence: Athens, Bradford County
Education: B.A., Bloomsburg University
Current occupation: Pennsylvania State Treasurer
Related experience: Served in the U.S. Army Reserves for 30 years, retired as a colonel after serving three deployments: Operation Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom; awarded the Bronze Star twice and received the Legion of Merit; vice president and cost accountant at Global Tungsten & Powders Corp., a global supplier of refractory powders in Towanda.
Supporters/endorsements: Garrity boasts local trade union and law enforcement endorsements, including the Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and state lodges of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Links: Website | Facebook | X
Total fundraising (reported as of 9/30/24):
Total raised (2024): $796,079.81 (2023 ending cash balance: $551,580.34)
Total spent (2024): $414,807.39
WESA Candidate Survey
Should a state treasurer weigh social or moral concerns when investing funds, or simply focus on the rate of return an investment is expected to make? Under what circumstances, if any, should such concerns guide investment decisions as treasurer?
By law, the state treasurer serves as a fiduciary and is charged with protecting capital, generating strong returns for taxpayers, and ensuring sufficient liquidity. Sometimes, achieving a goal that also provides social returns meets those objectives. For example, hours after Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, I directed my investment team to divest from Russia. The Treasury was the only state agency to divest before Russian financial markets closed, saving Pennsylvania taxpayers millions of dollars. I also divested from companies based in China due to geopolitical risk and concerns about that country’s abysmal record of human rights violations.
Previous budget fights between the executive and legislative branches have dragged on for months, requiring the treasurer's office to extend lines of credit to keep government coffers from being drained. What role, if any, do you believe a treasurer should have in those disputes?
The Governor and General Assembly have a responsibility to enact responsible budgets on time, spending within our means. However, the unfortunate reality is that budget impasses sometimes occur. When they do, it’s important for the treasurer to ensure that services which have been designated as essential continue without interruption. As I have in the past, I will work with the Governor and the General Assembly to ensure that payments to essential services — like our hospitals, police, and prisons — continue without delay even during an impasse.
More broadly, to what extent do you see the Treasurer's office acting as a check on power of the legislature and the governor, or as a watchdog over how money is spent? How do you think the office should carry out those roles?
As treasurer, I’m an independently elected official. One of my key duties is to review every state expenditure to determine if it’s lawful and correct. I don’t hesitate to reject payments when necessary. Every year, my office returns thousands of payment requests to state agencies for proof that they were lawful and correct. At the same time, it would be reckless and dangerous for any state treasurer to override a law and refuse to pay a bill simply because they don’t like a spending decision that was legally made by the General Assembly and the Governor.
While the Treasurer's office gets less attention than some other elected posts, it does have public-facing services such as returning unclaimed property and operating the state 529 college-saving plan. If given a four-year term, what, if anything, would you hope to do to improve those services?
I’ll build on my successes: I returned the most unclaimed property ever in a single year ($274 million); the new PA Money Match law will make returns even more efficient. I cut fees for PA 529, saving Pennsylvania families $16.5 million. The PA 529 Investment Plan received its first-ever Gold Rating from Morningstar, making it one of the top two plans nationally. I cut fees for the PA ABLE savings program for people with disabilities, helping it triple in size. I invested $25 million in the Ullico Infrastructure Fund, which in turn will invest $50 million in Pennsylvania projects.
Legislators are currently weighing a proposal to create a retirement-account program, Keystone Saves, for Pennsylvanians whose employers do not provide one. What’s your feeling about that proposal, and what do you think it needs to work?
More than two million hardworking Pennsylvanians cannot save for retirement at their jobs, and the resulting retirement savings crisis is costing taxpayers $1 billion every year. Those employees deserve a secure retirement. Keystone Saves will give people who currently have no good options a real chance to save their own money for their golden years, much like PA 529 helps people save for education. That’s why it has bipartisan support in the legislature and strong support from AARP, the Pew Charitable Trusts, United Way of Pennsylvania, local Chambers of Commerce, Feeding Pennsylvania, United Disabilities Services, and so many other organizations.
Erin McClelland
Democrat Erin McClelland was a mental health and substance abuse counselor and ran her own business in Western Pennsylvania before two unsuccessful bids for Congress. She has since worked as a process improvement consultant, including with a White House office on drug policy and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. Her primary win against Democrat state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro of Erie surprised the establishment, which had backed the state lawmaker to challenge Stacy Garrity. McClelland criticized Gov. Josh Shapiro over the summer while he was under vice presidential consideration by Kamala Harris; Shapiro, in turn, declined to endorse her this fall.
Party: Democratic
Place of residence: Harrison Twp, Allegheny County
Education: B.S., University of Pittsburgh; M.S., Chatham University
Current occupation: Former small business owner
Related experience: Started and ran a small business from 2006-2014; trained under former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill 2003-2004.
Supporters/endorsements: Unions including the state chapter of the AFL-CIO; Planned Parenthood; and progressive grassroots groups in Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley.
Links: Website | Facebook | X
Total fundraising (reported as of 9/30/24):
Total raised (2024): $99,602.94 (2023 ending cash balance: $105,001.21)
Total spent (2024): $108,429.07
WESA Candidate Survey:
Should a state treasurer weigh social or moral concerns when investing funds, or simply focus on the rate of return an investment is expected to make? Under what circumstances, if any, should such concerns guide investment decisions as treasurer?
Social and moral concerns often impact return on investment. Take opiate manufacturers, who for years made profits on endangering the lives of millions of Americans. Their ultimate choice of profit over people caused Purdue Pharma to enter bankruptcy. I believe that any organization, whether it be government, private, or publicly traded, that chooses profit, or political expediency over actively working to eliminate harm to people, always decreases their return on investment and should therefore always be accounted for. No organization will ever truly maximize returns or eliminate waste if they are hurting people.
Previous budget fights between the executive and legislative branches have dragged on for months, requiring the treasurer's office to extend lines of credit to keep government coffers from being drained. What role, if any, do you believe a treasurer should have in those disputes?
The treasurer is obligated, as the honest broker guarding the taxpayer dollars, to articulate the cost in time and treasure of a late budget (and ridiculing much of the absurdity that often accompanies this process should be expected.)
More broadly, to what extent do you see the treasurer's office acting as a check on power of the legislature and the governor, or as a watchdog over how money is spent? How do you think the office should carry out those roles?
The treasurer should illuminate where your money is actually going versus where the policy-makers suggest or intend it to go. Providing a more detailed perspective of how our money is spent is a useful function of the treasurer who sees every dollar. Accounting for wasteful spending or preventable errors like lawsuits resulting from work-related injury, racial discrimination and sexual harassment are preventable loss leaders that can be quantified when you can account for every dollar. Politicians often campaign on ending waste, fraud, and abuse. The treasurer is arguably in the best position to illustrate what waste, fraud, and abuse is occurring and what it's cost is to the people.
While the treasurer's office gets less attention than some other elected posts, it does have public-facing services such as returning unclaimed property and operating the state 529 college-saving plan. If given a four-year term, what if anything would you hope to do to improve those services?
It’s unclear how long the average unclaimed property sits in the Treasury. Addressing the cycle time from receipt to return would be a profound exercise in efficiency. It would also provide a measure of how the treasurer is performing. It's simple to put extra effort into returning property during an election season and saying, "I gave this much money back to the people." But long-term, measurable improvement that is sustainable from one treasurer to the next would be to say the average cycle time has decreased from 100 days to 10 days. That would be an effort that truly serves the people more efficiently, long before and after election season.
Legislators are currently weighing a proposal to create a retirement-account program, Keystone Saves, for Pennsylvanians whose employers do not provide one. What’s your feeling about that proposal, and what do you think it needs to work?
Keystone Saves doesn’t let employers contribute, so it's not a retirement program, it's a savings program. I have more aptly named it "The George W. Bush Great Recession Starter Kit" for its flare for moral hazard of the early 2000's. If signed into law, enrollment is mandated for every Pennsylvania small business that doesn’t offer a retirement program. Every employer would be required to report their workers’ identifying information to the Treasury. The program offers only one product, a self-directed IRA, on which the SEC has issued warnings. I support a state-sponsored retirement program and have designed my own that’s voluntary, provides more stable financial products and allows employer contributions.
