Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, other Democrats, criticize Stacy Garrity’s links to Trump

Davis’s visit is part of a Pennsylvania Democratic Party statewide tour launched last week aimed at tying Garrity to Trump’s agenda and promoting the governor’s re-election effort. 

“While she continues to play political games, Josh Shapiro and I are going to continue to work and combat Donald Trump's extreme agenda to move Pennsylvania forward, to make sure that Pennsylvania is a place where every person has ladders of opportunity to succeed,” Davis said. 

Garrity has celebrated the president’s endorsement and described herself as a “strong ally” of Trump on her campaign website. Earlier this month, she appeared with Trump in a video in the Oval Office as the president said, “Pennsylvania is very lucky because you have somebody running for governor who's going to do a fantastic job.”

“After 4 years in office, the Shapiro Davis ticket has absolutely no record of accomplishment to run on, so they’ve trying to deflect from their record of failure,” Matt Beynon, a spokesperson for the Garrity campaign, told The Center Square on Tuesday. “Under Josh Shapiro and Austin Davis, Pennsylvania’s economy ranks 47^th in the nation, Pennsylvania taxpayers face the 5^th highest tax burden in the country, and seven in 10 Pennsylvania 8^th graders cannot read at grade-level.”

“Stacy Garrity believes Josh Shapiro’s record of failure is unacceptable, and so do the millions of Pennsylvania families who know we can do better,” he added. “Stacy Garrity’s message to those hardworking families, frustrated by Josh Shapiro’s failures: Help is on the way!”

Despite carrying the state’s 19 electoral votes in 2024, Trump’s approval rating is currently underwater in Pennsylvania. 

Another key theme of Monday’s event was touting the support that the Shapiro-Davis ticket has provided for the building trades unions in the state. 

Ryan Boyer, the Business Manager for the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, described the administration as the “most pro-union apprenticeship administration” in the history of Pennsylvania and celebrated investments made into workforce training and education. 

While Boyer refused to call Garrity by name during his speech, he criticized Garrity for receiving an endorsement from the Associated Builders & Contractors, ABC, Keystone Chapter.

G. David Sload, President and CEO of ABC Keystone, promoted Garrity’s “Turnaround PA Plan” when they endorsed her and said that they are “confident she will be able to create more construction jobs at a time when the industry is losing workers to retirement.” 

In criticizing Garrity for that endorsement, Boyer noted ABC’s support for right-to-work legislation and said that states that have enacted those laws make 40% less than states that haven’t.

Davis, the son of a union bus driver, once again reassured supporters that Pennsylvania would “never be a right-to-work state” with him and Shapiro at the helm during his speech on Monday. 

Like the 2022 campaign, Shapiro and Davis have the support of a wide variety of labor unions in their bid for a second term in November. During Garrity’s successful bid for reelection over Democratic challenger Erin McClelland in 2024 as state Treasurer, she also received labor union backing, including the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades.

Boyer and Davis acknowledged the past support Garrity had received from those unions and accused her of having received it by lying. 

“She said the right thing,” Boyer said on Monday in response to a question from The Center Square about their decision to endorse her 2024 campaign for state Treasurer. “Listen, I say a lot of times we're a bipartisan organization.”

“She said that she would support the working men and women of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he continued. “She said that she would work with us to make sure that the unemployment compensation number goes up because it's very inadequate right now.”

Boyer also said that, upon receiving their support, Garrity assured them she would not challenge Shapiro in the 2026 race for governor.

“We think that Josh Shapiro is a superior governor, and for her to break that promise led me to say that I wouldn't support her if she ran for dog catcher,” Boyer said. 

Last summer, when speculation began that Garrity would challenge Shapiro, Boyer announced “the full force of our members and resources” would “be deployed” by the Philadelphia Building Trades Council “to defeat her efforts.”

Boyer’s comments drew backlash from the Pennsylvania Republican Party and several Republican elected officials, who claimed the union leader would not have made those comments if Garrity were a man.

However, Boyer disputed those claims.

“That wasn't a gender bias thing,” Boyer said on Monday. “I promoted more women and made sure that women had equity in this in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania than she ever would.” 

Boyer has been an outspoken ally of Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and House Speaker Joanna McClinton. CBS21 reported last year that during the pushback Boyer received on his comments urging Garrity not to run, Parker and McClinton said they backed Boyer, with the Philadelphia Inquirer noting Parker went as far to say she is mayor thanks to him. 

While Shapiro publicly backed fellow Democrats Eugene DePasquale for attorney general and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta for auditor general, the governor didn’t publicly endorse a candidate in the 2024 race between Garrity and McClelland.

While all the speakers criticized Garrity’s support for Trump, Democratic State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta touted several actions by the governor’s administration, including increased education funding and securing a cost-of-living adjustment for retirees, including teachers, law enforcement, and firefighters who retired before 2001.

In addition to the governor’s race being at the top of the ballot this fall in Pennsylvania, voters will decide who will control the state House and Senate. 

Kenyatta, like other Democrats serving in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, emphasized the importance of winning a trifecta, which would require them hold onto the governor’s office, maintain a majority in the state House, and flip multiple seats in the state Senate.

While control of both chambers will be on the line in November, the margins of the state House could change as early as Tuesday evening as voters in Butler County head to the polls to fill the seat previously held by GOP state Rep. Stephenie Scialabba.

In 2024, Scialabba won her bid by just under 30 points, while President Donald Trump won the district by about 18 points. 

Despite the region being more GOP-friendly, Democrats are making a push to elect loan Brandon Dukes over Republican Scott Timko in Tuesday’s special election.

Davis campaigned with Dukes on Sunday in support of his candidacy. 

“I would not have been there had we thought it wasn't a seat that we can be competitive in and that we can win,” Davis said in response to a question from The Center Square on Monday. “I think we absolutely have an opportunity there.”

“If you look over the last few election cycles, that seat has trended closer and closer to Democrats. It's a seat that Governor Shapiro and I won four years ago by a close margin, and I think the environment's right to flip that seat,” he continued. “So, I have a lot of high hopes and possibilities that Brandon Dukes is going to be able to pull out a win.”