Political ads · 2026 · PA

Pennsylvania Governor 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them

Josh Shapiro (Democrat), Stacy Garrity (Republican) and Ken Krawchuk (Libertarian) are the candidates for governor of Pennsylvania in the November 3, 2026 general election. Josh Shapiro is the incumbent. Semblen has analyzed 75 ads in this race; 11 used at least one manipulation technique, most often glittering generalities and loaded language.

Josh Shapiro (DEM, incumbent), Stacy Garrity (REP), Ken Krawchuk (LIB). On the ballot as listed by Ballotpedia. 75 ads analyzed, 11 with at least one technique in the copy. Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing. Updated 2026-10-08.

Findings

As of 2026-10-08. Counts are of distinct ads; the same text run many times is one ad.

Ads analyzed
75 · started running between 2026-01-14 and 2026-10-08
With at least one technique
11 of 75 (15%)
Most common techniques
Glittering Generalities · 8 adsLoaded Language · 8 adsAppeal to Fear · 6 ads
Reported Meta spend
$621,800–764,029 on all ads, $98,700–126,382 on flagged ads · Meta reports ranges; these are the sums of their ends
Example
“make your dreams come true” — Glittering Generalities, paid for by Josh Shapiro · the flagged ad with the highest reported spend that shows the most common technique

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A small box with these findings and the newest ads, updated as new ads are analyzed. Free for newsrooms, blogs and campaigns alike; it links back here.

Who is running these ads

By sponsor (16)
Paid for byAdsWith at least one techniqueMost common
Josh Shapiro465 of 46 (11%)Glittering Generalities (4), Appeal to Fear (2), Bandwagon Appeal (2)
Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justice90 of 9
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER PBC30 of 3
Zachary Petrakovich30 of 3
Citizens Alliance22 of 2Appeal to Fear (2), Appeal to Prejudice (2), Loaded Language (2)
Friends of Hadley Haas21 of 2Loaded Language (1), Name Calling (1)
American Families First11 of 1Appeal to Prejudice (1), Bandwagon Appeal (1), Black-and-White Fallacy (1)
Brad for PA10 of 1
Bryan Allen for PA10 of 1
Chester Water Authority10 of 1
COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION11 of 1Appeal to Fear (1), Appeal to Prejudice (1), False Urgency (1)
Friends of Christina Vogel10 of 1
Friends of Kristin Egan10 of 1
Friends of Sara Agerton10 of 1
Gun Owners of America, Inc.11 of 1Appeal to Fear (1), False Urgency (1), Glittering Generalities (1)
TIM HAYES FOR PA10 of 1

Decide what counts

Not everyone would call every technique manipulation. Untick the ones you'd call ordinary persuasion and the count updates.

15% of the 75 ads here use at least one of the techniques ticked below (11 ads).

Leaving out the softer ones (loaded language, glittering generalities, slogans, exaggeration, repetition): 15% of ads.

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Money in this race

Candidates for governor report their fundraising to Pennsylvania's state campaign-finance office, not the FEC. This page doesn't cover those reports yet, so it shows no money figures.

The ads

75 ads, newest first.

Showing the 1 ad paid for by American Families First. Show all 75 ads

Paid for by American Families Firstfrom 2026-07-29 to 2026-08-03spend $0–992,000–2,999 impressions
All who care more about families than political donors are enthusiastically supporting Stacy Garrity, Jason Richey, and other family-supporting Republicans. Many Democrats care more about families than big donors. THEY have given the Democratic Governor Candidate FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS! Many Democrats and Independents want to send their Party a message they will hear. "Our future is more important than letting donors keep taking more and more of our money!" This year, voting for Republicans is the only way to do that. May all be blessed to "Remember in November!"
Bandwagon AppealBlack-and-White FallacyGlittering GeneralitiesAppeal to PrejudiceConspiracy AppealLoaded LanguageTransfer71.4% of sentences flagged

Bandwagon Appeal: The sentence implies that anyone who truly cares about families is already supporting these candidates, pressuring readers to conform to the crowd — for example: 'All who care more about families than political donors are enthusiastically supporting'

Black-and-White Fallacy: The sentence frames the choice as binary: either you support these Republicans or you care more about political donors than families, leaving no middle ground — for example: 'All who care more about families than political donors'

Glittering Generalities: The repeated use of 'families' and 'family-supporting' as vague, emotionally positive labels lends an air of virtue without specifying any concrete policy — for example: 'family-supporting Republicans'

Appeal to Prejudice: The sentence subtly flatters Democrats who might cross party lines by distinguishing them as the 'good' Democrats who care about families, exploiting in-group identity to peel off voters — for example: 'Many Democrats care more about families than big donors'

Conspiracy Appeal: The use of 'THEY' in all caps implies a shadowy, unnamed group acting in secret to fund a political candidate, invoking a hidden sinister plot — for example: THEY have given

Loaded Language: The all-caps formatting of 'THEY' and 'FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS' is designed to trigger an emotional reaction of alarm and outrage rather than convey neutral information — for example: FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS!

Transfer: The invocation of a blessing borrows religious authority to lend divine legitimacy to a partisan political call to action — for example: 'May all be blessed'

Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.

View in Meta's Ad Library ↗

What this page is

  • An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it ran mostly in PA and names a nominee for governor — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office (a U.S. Senate or House campaign included), or it also names PA's Senate nominees, in which case it is on the Senate race's page. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
  • The candidates are the ones certified for the November ballot, from the source linked at the top. Governors are state offices, so there are no FEC filings behind this page: no money figures, and outside groups are placed on a side only when they are a campaign or a party committee.
  • Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
  • A technique is a specific manipulative move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
  • Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. The check runs once and its result is shown to everyone afterwards. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
  • Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
  • Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.

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