Stacy
Garrity

The day after the debate, Garrity said she would seek to reduce family utility bills by 15% to 20% in her first year as governor and have Pennsylvania opt in to a federal tax initiative supporting school choice. These were campaign proposals, not enacted policies.

Garrity and Shapiro faced off in an hourlong debate in Harrisburg—the only scheduled televised debate before the November 3 election. Garrity defended a pause on new data-center development, supported expanding natural-gas production, proposed eliminating the state gross-receipts tax on electricity, backed a temporary gas-and-diesel-tax pause funded by the rainy-day fund, and proposed $750 in driver rebates over three months.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Garrity's campaign had struggled to raise money and had no television ads, while Shapiro held a much larger financial advantage. Garrity expressed hope that 'the cavalry will be coming' to support her campaign.

Among 1,159 likely Pennsylvania voters surveyed October 1–5 (released September 23), Shapiro led Garrity 59% to 34%, with Libertarian Ken Krawchuk at 2%. The margin of error was ±3.9 points. Quinnipiac noted 44% of likely voters had not heard enough about Garrity to form an opinion.

Campaign-finance reports covering the summer fundraising period showed Garrity raised approximately $1.8 million compared with Shapiro's $13.3 million. Garrity reported about $1.3 million in cash on hand; Shapiro spent nearly $32 million during the period compared with Garrity's roughly $1.6 million.

President Donald Trump posted a video on Truth Social endorsing Stacy Garrity for governor and criticizing incumbent Josh Shapiro, saying Shapiro 'does not have what it takes.' Trump had first endorsed Garrity in January; the September post reinforced that endorsement as the general election approached.