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 9 ads paid for by Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justice. Show all 75 ads
Paid for by Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justicefrom 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-072 variantsspend $0–1984,000–5,998 impressions
Gas is almost $5 per gallon in Vestal. It is the responsibility of all elected officials to ease the financial burden on working families, whenever possible. Virtual proceedings have been allowed in all civil proceedings and most criminal proceedings in local courts in New York State since 2020. I promise to bring the Vestal Town Court into the 21st Century and make the court easier to use, through virtual proceedings and expanded court hours.
no techniques found
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
Paid for by Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justicefrom 2026-09-292 variantsspend $100–29816,000–17,998 impressions
*Important Note from Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justice*
I spent the night knocking on doors with my wonderful wife and daughters to talk about my candidacy with Vestal residents. My oldest daughter and I have been walking and knocking on hundreds of doors for 6 weeks now. I want to take a minute to express my appreciation for the wonderful community that we are a part of. Tonight, two Vestal residents invited us into their home, thanked my daughters for their hard work, and gave them a hug. We have had no negative interactions at the doors (and we’ve knocked on at least 1,000). I have knocked on the doors of democrats, independents, and republicans. Most have taken the time to speak to us about my plans to make the court easier to use. My daughter has learned an important civics lesson about how our democracy works and how we can speak respectfully to each other while discussing different ideas instead of appealing to the lowest common denominator, or engaging in ad hominem personal attacks like too many of our politicians do today. Thank you Vestal, truly. The best part of this campaign has been meeting all of you.
Also thank you Funky Beez for the great food as always!
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.
Paid for by Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justicefrom 2026-09-23 to 2026-09-25spend $0–991,000–1,999 impressions
Access to Justice should not be a partisan political issue - that’s why so many current and former local elected officials from both political parties have endorsed Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justice. These officials support Josh’s common sense reforms to make the Vestal Town Court easier to use through expanded evening hours and virtual appearance options. Below are a few of these officials.
no techniques found
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
Paid for by Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justicefrom 2026-09-23 to 2026-09-24spend $0–99100–999 impressions
Access to Justice is not a partisan political issue - that’s why so many current and former local elected officials from both political parties have endorsed Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justice. These officials support Josh’s common sense reforms to make the Vestal Town Court easier to use through expanded evening hours and virtual appearance options. Below are a few of these officials.
no techniques found
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
Paid for by Josh Shapiro for Vestal Town Justicefrom 2026-09-11 to 2026-10-055 variantsspend $100–59518,000–26,995 impressions
The Right Experience:
⭐20+ Years of courtroom experience
⭐11 Years prosecuting homicides & violent felonies
⭐9+ Years as Special Counsel & Court Attorney-Referee
⭐Administratively Supervises 210 Town and Village Justices
The Best Choice:
⭐Expanded court hours (Including evening hours) for better accessibility
⭐Increased use of technology to allow virtual appearances in civil and criminal matters
⭐Increased access to attorneys for those who cannot afford one
no techniques found
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
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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