With the upcoming elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro faced off against his Republican challenger, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity in a debate ahead of the gubernatorial election, on Wednesday night. Held in Harrisburg, the event was the one and only time that the two candidates will debate ahead of the upcoming elections. Democratic incumbent Shapiro has been campaigning on a platform of “getting sh*t done,” a quote he popularized after speaking at the site of a collapse of I-95 in Philadelphia after working with PennDOT to have the incident repaired. On his campaign website, Shapiro claims that he invested “more in public education than ever before, hired hundreds of new law enforcement officers, created thousands of new jobs, and put money back in people’s pockets.” Garrity, meanwhile, has been campaigning on her history of service to the community — she served in the military for two decades and has been the state treasurer since 2020 — and, according to her campaign site, looks to be a “Governor more interested in raising hope, than raising our taxes.” Her campaign site claims she has saved taxpayers “almost two hundred million dollars by eliminating fraud and inefficiency” and touts her relationship as a “strong ally” of Republican President Donald Trump. A new poll out from Quinnipiac University has Shapiro with a 25 point lead over Garrity, with 59% of respondents saying they support the Democratic incumbent, while Garrity garnered 34% support. The poll also showed voters crossing party lines, with Shapiro getting 17% support from Republicans and 62% support from Independents. Garrity has 23% support from Independents. Christopher Borick, a professor at Lehigh University, said that Wednesday’s debate is a crucial event for Garrity as she tries to narrow the gap with Shapiro. “For her to change the direction of the race and get some momentum, she needs to have a really good night and hope that maybe Governor Shapir is off that night and open the door a little bit,” he said. NBC10’s Lauren Mayk was in attendance and will provide a full report at 11 p.m. More updates will also be provided here. ...read more read less