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.
$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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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 2 ads paid for by Friends of Hadley Haas. Show all 75 ads
Paid for by Friends of Hadley Haasfrom 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-082 variantsspend $0–1987,000–8,998 impressions
Valerie Gaydos claims to be on-board with Governor Josh Shapiro’s agenda – while at the same time publicly criticizing and working against him.
She called Governor Shapiro’s plans “fiscally irresponsible and unaffordable,” and claimed “he can't be trusted.” Now she wants us to believe she’ll work with him to lower costs for working families.
Valerie Gaydos is the wrong person to work with Governor Shapiro. Vote her out this November.
Name Calling: Labeling Gaydos as 'the wrong person' is a dismissive, derogatory characterization used to discredit her without substantive argument — for example: the wrong person.
Loaded Language: Emotionally charged words chosen to trigger a reaction rather than convey facts.
Name Calling
Loaded Language
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
Paid for by Friends of Hadley Haasfrom 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-072 variantsspend $0–1983,100–4,998 impressions
Hadley Haas is proud to be endorsed by Governor Josh Shapiro.
Hadley is going to work with Governor Shapiro to help him pass his agenda to make life more affordable for Pennsylvanians. Hadley is proud to support the Governor's efforts to:
✅ Hold data centers accountable
✅ Stand with our public schools
✅ Support job growth and small businesses
Join Governor Josh Shapiro in supporting Hadley Haas this November!
no techniques found
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
An email when new ads come in from either side or the outside groups: the techniques, the words doing the work, and who paid. And each debate's analysis the morning after. One-click unsubscribe.
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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