State Sen. Cris Dush loses out on being Garrity’s pick for PA lieutenant governor
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Stacy Garrity picked a running mate Thursday, and his name isn’t Cris Dush.
Garrity, the state treasurer, selected Allegheny County Republican Party chair Jason Richey, who entered the lieutenant governor race Thursday morning. The endorsement and Richey’s campaign were first reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“Over the past several months, I’ve spoken to numerous political, civic, and business leaders about our Commonwealth’s future and what it will take to turn Pennsylvania around,” Garrity said in a statement to news media Thursday. Richey, a lawyer who lives northwest of Pittsburgh, “rose to the top,” the statement said.
The endorsement could put a damper on the campaign of Dush, a conservative state senator who represents a large swath of Centre County and North Central Pennsylvania. Dush announced he was running for lieutenant governor two weeks ago, and told the Centre Daily Times then he’d like to support Pennsylvania businesses, clean up executive branch bureaucracy and take an active role in chairing the commonwealth’s board of pardons as the commonwealth’s No. 2 official.
But Dush isn’t new to running against the party’s preferred candidate. He came within 400 votes of ousting the Republican state House speaker in the 2012 primary election, and told the Harrisburg ABC affiliate last week that a lack of an endorsement likely wouldn’t end his run.
“We had a saying when I was running against the speaker of the House that, ‘If we win, praise God, if we lose, praise God,’” Dush told the station. “And He’s blessed me the whole way through.”
Dush did not respond to calls and texts Thursday seeking comment. He will be up for reelection in the Senate in 2028.
Who is lieutenant governor candidate Jason Richey?
Richey, the Garrity-endorsed candidate, ran in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2022 but dropped out amid low polling. He has never held a public office, but has chaired the Allegheny County GOP since February 2025.
Richey told the Post-Gazette that he had closed Allegheny County’s Republican Party registration gap by 4-5% since taking over as chair. Democrats in the county, anchored by Pittsburgh, outnumber Republicans 2:1 as of Monday.
Richey, 54, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he’d like to make Pennsylvania’s economy stronger. The lieutenant governor has few defined powers outside presiding over the state Senate and chairing the state board of pardons, though governors sometimes give their No. 2 policy initiatives.
Garrity is running unopposed for the Republican nomination with the endorsement of the state GOP and President Donald Trump.
Gubernatorial race on tap for 2026
In Pennsylvania, lieutenant governor candidates must win a primary election to run alongside their party’s gubernatorial candidate in November. The last Republican nominee for lieutenant governor was not endorsed by the top of the ticket.
Also running for the GOP lieutenant governor nod are Brian Thomas, a businessman and political neophyte from Bucks County, and John Ventre, a former UPS executive from Westmoreland County who ran a failed bid for governor in 2022.
On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis is running unopposed with the backing of Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose ticket is widely considered the favorite in the general election.
The primary election will be held May 19, with a registration deadline of May 4. The state GOP will reportedly meet Feb. 7 to endorse a lieutenant governor candidate.
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 4:49 PM.
