Stacy Garrity Defends AI Campaign Ad and Criticizes Opponent Ahead of Election Day
“Every single thing in that ad is correct, unlike the ads that the governor has run against me, which are categorically false, and full of lies,” Republican Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity said during a 30-minute sit-down interview with KDKA-TV ahead of the Nov. 3 Election Day, KDKA-TV reported. Everything in there is true.
The interview covered several contentious issues in Pennsylvania’s governor race, including artificial intelligence in political advertisements, public assistance programs, and an ongoing measles outbreak. Garrity addressed a campaign ad targeting incumbent Josh Shapiro that was made entirely with AI. The spot features an AI-generated version of Shapiro highlighting his administration’s controversies.
When KDKA-TV’s Josh Taylor asked about the irony of using AI to attack the technology’s use in political messaging, asking, Do you feel any kind of sense of irony of using AI to create an ad that emphasizes the use of AI when there’s so many people now that are starting to attack the use of AI in ads because they feel like it’s not ethical?
Garrity pointed to financial backing from the tech sector. She argued that Shapiro took $5.7 million from data center developers and used those funds to run ads against her campaign.
The Impact of Unresolved Skill Games Deadlines
Beyond campaign tactics, Garrity criticized the incumbent administration over the state’s handling of skill games. October 13 came and went without a legislative resolution or a framework to keep the machines operating in participating venues.
Because the deadline passed without action, American Legions, VFW posts, fire halls, and small businesses such as gas stations, convenience stores, and local pharmacies were forced to pull the machines off their floors. Because the issue wasn’t addressed by Oct. 13, our American Legions, our VFWs, our fire halls and so many small businesses like gas stations, convenience stores, even some local pharmacies, they had to pull these machines out,
she said. Garrity noted that these operations support thousands of jobs and contribute millions of dollars back into local communities. These are thousands of thousands of jobs, and they give back millions of dollars into the community,
she added.
Garrity Stresses Lowering Administrative Error Rates
The conversation also shifted to economic pressures, rising costs, and federal reductions affecting safety-net programs like SNAP and Medicaid. Garrity stressed the need to lower administrative error rates to protect taxpayer funds, pointing to a standard where no employee of hers would maintain an error rate above 10 percent. First of all, we need to get our error rate down so we don’t have to pay so much, right?
Garrity said, adding, I mean, that’s ridiculous. Nobody that ever worked for me would have over a 10% error rate in anything.
She maintained that assistance must remain available for populations intended to benefit, including single parents, pregnant mothers, caretakers, and individuals with disabilities, stating, And so as far as Medicaid and SNAP, we’re going to make sure that it’s there for the people that it was intended to help, and that is pregnant moms, it’s single parents, it’s caretakers, it’s people with disabilities.
On public health, Garrity addressed the state’s measles situation following nearly 1,300 reported cases and the first measles-related deaths in years, as tracked by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and monitored by the Global Incident Tracker. Contrasting her approach with the incumbent’s, Garrity stated, So, first of all, I would not have done what the governor did, which was run to a camera before he had all the facts.
She added, So a real leader, what you do is first thing: go console these families. And then secondly, you’ve got to get boots on the ground. You’ve got to get the facts and then be fully transparent.
Concluding her remarks on governance, she noted, It all comes down to common sense. It comes down to leadership, and then working with these agencies to make sure you’re doing the right thing for Pennsylvanians.
KDKA extended an invitation to Shapiro for a similar one-on-one interview before voters head to the polls, though he had not accepted as of the broadcast.
