State Sen. Cris Dush to run for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor
State Sen. Cris Dush, a Republican who represents a large part of Centre County, is running for lieutenant governor, he said in an interview Wednesday evening. He joins just one other Republican looking to join a ticket likely to be led by Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the gubernatorial hopeful endorsed by the Pennsylvania GOP.
Dush, 64, said his goals as the commonwealth’s No. 2 official would include supporting Pennsylvania’s businesses and cleaning up bureaucracy in the executive branch. The fledgling campaign was first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier on Wednesday.
Dush said he last spoke with Garrity, whom he has called a friend, about the campaign “about a month or so” ago but declined to discuss the outcome of those conversations.
“She’s in conversations with a number of people, but we’ve been friendly the whole time,” Dush said. He somewhat distanced himself from a statement he made to the Inquirer that he would likely pursue the GOP primary nomination even if he isn’t endorsed by the state party.
“That’s not a universal statement, that’s a very likely statement,” Dush said. He added that “that’s not very likely going to be an issue,” but that he would follow Garrity’s lead on the matter.
State GOP chairman Greg Rothman, also a state senator, did not return messages seeking comment.
A U.S. Air Force veteran, Dush is one of the most conservative members of the Republican Senate caucus. He has referred to abortion as the “killing” of children, telling the Centre Daily Times in 2024 that there “need to be changes” to Pennsylvania’s abortion laws. After the 2020 election, he signed onto a letter urging Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to object to the election results in the commonwealth. He later led efforts to investigate the 2020 election in Pennsylvania, but said his goal was not to overturn the election.
The senator has a 94% lifetime rating from the pro-business Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce and is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, recently opposing efforts of local governments in Pennsylvania to restrict guns. He opposes the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
During his interview with the CDT, Dush kept the political red meat to a minimum, instead referring to himself and Garrity as “unifiers.” He said he would default to Garrity’s position in the event of disagreements.
“I know the chain of command,” he said.
Dush, a supporter of President Donald Trump, represents the largely rural 25th Senate district, which includes State College and eastern Centre County, northern Jefferson County and all of Cameron, Clinton, Elk, McKean and Potter counties.
He has twice won the seat by wide margins and currently chairs the Senate state government committee. He will be up for reelection in 2028.
Before being elected to the Senate in 2020, Dush served for six years as a state representative. After announcing his retirement from politics in 2019, he briefly ran for auditor general in 2020 before seeking the senate seat he now holds.
The role of lieutenant governor is largely ceremonial. Governors sometimes give their No. 2 policy initiatives, but the only defined roles are presiding over the state Senate and chairing the state board of pardons.
Dush, a former corrections officer, emphasized the importance of the board of pardons and applauded the more active role former Lt. Gov. John Fetterman took in chairing it.
“I want to find those people that have really paid their debt and can bring something meaningful out into their communities and be a help to them,” Dush said.
In Pennsylvania, lieutenant governor candidates must win a primary election to run alongside their party’s gubernatorial candidate in November. On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis is running with the backing of Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose ticket is widely considered the favorite in the general election.
Brian Thomas, a businessman and political neophyte from Bucks County, is also running for the GOP lieutenant governor nomination.
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 6:15 PM.
