HARRISBURG — For the first time since 2018, Pennsylvanians may have the chance to watch their choices for governor meet face-to-face for a debate.
Spokespeople for incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican challenger Stacy Garrity told Spotlight PA that the candidates are both willing to participate in at least one debate leading up to November’s general election.
Neither would discuss the potential details, like what organization might host one or who they’d accept as moderator.
"We aren’t going to negotiate the terms of a debate through the press,” said Manuel Bonder, Shapiro’s spokesperson, in a statement. “We look forward to engaging with the Garrity campaign directly on any good faith efforts to do so and continue making the choice in this election clear.”
Debates and public forums are growing rarer in politics, according to multiple civic engagement advocates speaking anecdotally. This, they said, costs voters the chance to watch how candidates would respond — unscripted — to direct pushback against their proposals and beliefs.
In 2022, Shapiro and Republican nominee Doug Mastriano could not agree on terms for a debate. Mastriano refused to participate in a traditional format with a moderator because he thought it would have benefited Shapiro. Instead, Mastriano proposed that a conservative political commentator host, which Shapiro’s campaign declined.
But this year is different. Garrity’s campaign said she would participate in a debate hosted by a reputable news organization or trade group with a nonpartisan host.
Matt Beynon, Garrity’s spokesperson, said he hasn’t spoken directly with anyone on Shapiro’s team about a debate as of last week, but that he has had conversations with “a number of the outlets and organizations that have traditionally held gubernatorial debates in Pennsylvania.”
Garrity’s goal, Beynon said, would be to draw a contrast between herself and Shapiro on their plans for education, broad economic development in Pennsylvania, and how their administrations would address data center proposals.
Beynon said Garrity believes a debate “should be part of the process,” and “voters have a right to know where each of the candidates stand, and how they stack up next to each other.”
Bonder did not disclose what issues Shapiro would want to discuss in a debate.
Shapiro has given many long-form interviews this year to news outlets and personalities with a national audience, but hasn’t focused on Garrity — usually, he frames his reelection race as exemplifying Democrats’ hopes of pushing back against President Donald Trump. Interviewers also regularly overlook Garrity to focus their questions on Shapiro’s view of national and international politics, or to tease him about his expected White House run.
The last time Pennsylvanians saw their gubernatorial candidates debate was in 2018, when then-Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, met GOP nominee Scott Wagner at that year’s Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry's dinner for their sole debate of the campaign.
The late Jeopardy host Alex Trebek moderated, posing questions to Wolf and Wagner that he said at the time were intended to give insight into their “personalities.”
Philip Hensley-Robin, executive director of good-government group Common Cause PA, said getting the “full picture of a candidate’s stances, positions, values, experience” is what a debate moderator should strive for. Candidates, he said, should also feel “some responsibility” to answer questions from the public and be transparent about their beliefs heading into every election.
Many candidates, especially incumbents, Hensley-Robin said, may not see much benefit to appearing in a debate, where they could be more susceptible to making a mistake. He added that the heightened polarization of modern politics has made it increasingly difficult to find a moderator that both campaigns view as neutral.
As the more well-known incumbent, Shapiro has more to “risk” by participating in a debate, according to Amy Widestrom, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. She agreed many candidates, no matter the race, have grown increasingly hesitant to participate in public forums or debates because they’re concerned about stumbling and giving their opponent a free opportunity to collect a soundbite or video clip to use out of context in ads.
But Widestrom said public events give voters the opportunity to see candidates outside of their “curated” and “workshopped” public relations operation, and candidates the opportunity to show their authenticity.
“They deserve to be questioned and pushed and challenged and held accountable, but also deserve understanding and grace,” Widestrom said. “That part of our civic dialogue has sort of fallen away.”
It’s been nearly a decade since Shapiro last shared a debate stage with a political rival: in his first run for attorney general, he faced Republican nominee John Rafferty, then a state senator.
Garrity will likely echo some of Rafferty’s criticisms from 2016. Back then, Rafferty sought to cast Shapiro as a politician more focused on climbing the ladder than on the office he was seeking. Rafferty put the argument bluntly during their 2016 debate: “I don't want to be governor. I know he does. He can deny it all he wants.”
(Shapiro departed the attorney general’s office midway through his second term after being elected governor. If elected this year, Garrity would have to do the same with Treasury.)
Garrity, who has never debated a political opponent, has similarly seized on persistent speculation that Shapiro is eyeing a 2028 presidential bid. She often repeats the phrase that Shapiro is “more concerned with Pennsylvania Avenue” than solving issues in the commonwealth.
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