Hello, America, and welcome to the Sean Hannity Show.
As you probably know, like most sensible people, Sean is taking his annual year-end vacation.
2025 is almost over with, and Sean will be back and ready to go when 2026 arrives.
So, this is Jeffrey Lord, the contributing editor of the American Spectator, filling in for Sean.
And I thought with 2026 arriving, we can start to take a look at what will be a big ongoing topic next year, that being the 2026 election for state governors and members of the U.S. Senate and House.
We have five interesting Senate races in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, and North Carolina that are going to be up for grabs.
And Republicans certainly are going to be pouring everything they can into an effort to win those seats to keep their Senate majority going.
In my own Pennsylvania, and I'll come back to this a little bit more in a bit, but in my own Pennsylvania, we are going to have a very important governor's race with Republican Stacey Garrity, who is our current state treasurer, who won in unbelievable margins when she was elected state treasurer.
And she is going to be the Republican nominee for governor, running against the Democrat governor, Josh Shapiro.
So we will have state treasurer Garrity on to talk about that.
And she's a very interesting person.
I confess she's a friend, but let me fill you in a bit on her background.
She served in the United States Army Reserve for 30 years, notably with three deployments in the Gulf and Iraq wars.
When she left after those 30 years, she had earned the rank of colonel and earned two bronze stars in the Legion of Merit.
Moving into the private sector, Stacy served as the vice president of Global Tungsten and Powders Corporation, a company based in Tawanda, Pennsylvania.
And she was elected the Pennsylvania state treasurer in 2020 and re-elected overwhelmingly in 2024, winning over 3.5 million votes, the most votes cast for any statewide candidate in Pennsylvania history.
Her victory over the incumbent Democrat state treasurer was the first time a Republican had defeated an incumbent Democrat since 1994.
So already, Stacey has won the support of Pennsylvania Republicans, a victory that will be formalized in the May 19th, 2026 Pennsylvania primary.
Then we're also going to have on as a guest Selena Zito.
And Selena is a terrific journalist covering Pennsylvania and politics.
She joined the Washington Examiner in 2016 as a Pittsburgh-based columnist and reporter covering national politics and culture from a perspective outside the Beltway.
She is the author of the book, Butler, the untold story of the near assassination of Donald Trump and the fight for America's heartland and the great revolt.
She began her career at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review as a reporter and columnist covering national politics.
And she has been a contributor as well to the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, as well as currently the Washington Post.
And then we also are going to have Jeff Bartos.
Jeff is also a Pennsylvanian, an American real estate developer, a lawyer, and a diplomat, currently serving by the appointment of President Trump as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, and been serving there since this year of 2025.
So we're going to have an interesting time talking with all these folks.
Things kind of slow down, as we all know in America, when we get to that week between Christmas and New Year's as people try and get a fix on what it is their New Year's resolutions are going to be, in this case for 2026.
And 2026, as I've said, is going to be an election year.
And from the President Trump perspective, I suspect this is very important in terms of keeping control of the House and Senate.
And he is, I believe I am correct in saying this, he's already said he is going to be out there campaigning all across the country for Republican candidates to get them elected and to carry the day for a Republican House and a Republican Senate, not to mention in cases like Stacey Garrity's, a Republican governor.
What we're going to be dealing with, I think, President Trump has said that the midterm elections are going to be, this is his phrase, about pricing, quote unquote.
And he said what I think most people out there doing their daily shopping as they, not to mention as they got ready for Christmas and with Christmas shopping, they could tell that the nation's economy was much better this year than it was after President Biden left it.
And the president said that he thought it's going to be about the success of our country, meaning the 2026 election.
He said they gave us high pricing and we're bringing it down.
Energy is way down.
Gasoline is way down.
And I can tell you from my Christmas experience driving from Pennsylvania to the far end of eastern Long Island where my parents' family was from, you can see the difference in prices as you're getting your gas here.
There is no question about that.
So that's a good thing.
These elections, I have to say, and I've been through my share of them, they always come down at the end, unless there's a massive World War II-style running crazy.
The economy is always the answer, always.
And so I think you are going to find that these candidates, both on both sides, are going to be talking about this, although if you are a Republican and a Trump supporter, you're going to want to be talking about this a lot.
If you're a Democrat, you're going to probably try and pretend that this doesn't happen.
But we will see how this goes.
There have been a lot of positive economic reports that have shown that inflation is decreasing, with the White House highlighting the latest data while addressing the cost of living concerns nationwide.
And according to a political poll conducted last month, Americans say they are finding that the cost of groceries, utilities, health care, housing, and transportation are too expensive.
And so President Trump has been going after this and they are, as I say, I certainly have noticed in terms of energy and gasoline that prices have been coming down.
And he, the president, has added that electricity is down.
It's way down.
And then he also added when the gasoline goes down and when the oil and gas go down, the electricity comes down naturally.
And so this is always job number one for a president.
And the long ago I worked, just to give you an example of how this works.
And the long ago, I worked for President Reagan in the White House as a political director when I was younger than I am now.
And he had an enormous package of tax and budget cuts to reform the country, the economy, and get it out of the recession that it had been thrust into in the Carter years.
And he got the legislation passed.
He signed it in August of 2022, I believe it was.
But the kicker was, or 2021, I'm sorry.
But the kicker was it didn't kick in.
It takes a while for these things to make themselves felt.
And people didn't know what to make of this in the 1982 elections.
And so he had a real problem getting Republicans elected in 1982.
And then in January or so of 1983, then suddenly the economy took off like a rocket.
And it was just incredible to behold.
And by the time 1984 rolled around and he himself was up for reelection, he wound up winning a 49-state landslide because people were, in fact, very, very happy with the state of the economy.
So that, I think, is always going to be a big deal here as we go on.
Then I'm seeing a headline on Fox News that the Justice Department is releasing Epstein documents with warning about Trump allegations.
And I think we will see, you know, who knows what's going to happen.
You know, frankly, I don't think most Americans care about this.
Most Americans are concerned, as I was saying, about the economy.
That's where their bread and butter is.
That's how they take care of their families.
A story like this is titillating to various people out there in the media and Democrats.
Well, maybe Democrats, because some Democrats are not so happy about it.
And there's all kinds of things.
There are pictures floating around with former President Clinton that I suspect Democrats don't want to see out there.
So I really think that that Epstein episode is not going to be a big deal when it comes to elections because people just don't really care that much.
It doesn't affect them.
So on we go with all of that.
And then we still have to deal, and President Trump has to deal with Russia, which claims now that Ukraine attacked the residence of President Putin with, are you ready for this, 91 drones?
And the Kremlin is apparently now changing ceasefire terms and all of this kind of thing.
But, you know, one of the things that is sort of amazing here, it's always well to remember that this world of ours has been around a very long time.
And there are all kinds of rivalries and problems and all of this kind of thing going on with one country after another that have been going on for years.
I mean, none of us were around, or most of us weren't around, when World War I broke out and came to a conclusion.
And I imagine people in the day thought, well, that's it.
It's over.
We've resolved it.
And then, of course, the rise of Adolf Hitler and Germany.
And suddenly there was World War II.
And there was the problems over in the Far East with the Japanese and all this.
And so World War II came and we had to fight the, America had to fight the war all over again.
So in other words, I think the lesson, and this has been true in all kinds of situations, where you think that you've ended a situation, a violent situation, and then you find out that lo and behold, there are people out there that still want to continue fighting.
And I think that that's one of the problems that is basically a humanity problem.
And I don't know, you'd like to think that any president of the United States could put their thumb down and say that's it.
But I have to say, I think that as much as President Trump or any other president tries, it's not always doable.
And things come back around to bite us all over again.
So, you know, we'll be set with that.
In the meantime, I hope everybody is getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve.
And I think I saw a story somewhere that the ball drop that you see in New York on New Year's Eve is going to be red, white, and blue this year.
And I think the reason for that is we are kicking off the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
And that is going to be quite something.
As someone who is around, as I'm sure many of you were, for the 1976 bicentennial, I can only imagine what the 250 celebration is going to be.
It will be a very, very big deal indeed.
So, all right, we'll be back in a bit.
We have some great guests, as I say.
So thank you.
Stay tuned.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas.
Happy Hanukkah.
And on we go.
All right.
Welcome back.
And I want to, very first thing, this being what we call in the trade talk radio, I want to give you an opportunity to call in and talk.
And just dial in 800-941-7326 or 800-941-Sean, S-E-A-N.
And we can have a conversation.
There is so much going on here in the world as we speak.
Also today, President Trump has been meeting with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu.
And we'll see what comes out of that.
I know Sean has been to Israel a number of times, and I've watched his reports, and they are on television, and they are just amazing to see.
I had never been until this year, and it was quite an amazing trip.
So maybe we'll talk a little bit about that when we come back.
So just hang in there, stay tuned, and we will be right back.
You can always count on.
Sean Hannity is back on the radio.
All right, we are here.
This is Jeffrey Lord from the American Spectator, and he's Max sitting in for Sean Hannity.
You can reach us here at 800-941-7326 or 800-941-Sean, if you'd prefer.
And I am delighted to have as our first guest, one Stacey Garrity, who is the Pennsylvania State Treasurer, who has done just enormous work.
And Stacey, before we start, I just want to do a little bio info for our guests, particularly for Pennsylvanians who are looking in and may not be familiar.
Before she joined us, as I say, let me fill you in here.
She served in the United States Army Reserve for 30 years, notably with three deployments in the Gulf and Iraq wars.
When she left after those 30 years, she had earned the rank of colonel and earned two bronze stars in the Legion of Merit.
She moved into the private sector where she served as the vice president of Global Tungsten and Powders Corporation, a company based and headquartered in Tawanda, Pennsylvania.
She was elected the Pennsylvania State Treasurer in 2020 and re-elected overwhelmingly in 2024, winning over 3.5 million votes, the most votes cast for any statewide candidate in Pennsylvania history.
Her victory over the incumbent Democrat state treasurer was the first time a Republican had defeated an incumbent Democrat since 1994.
So already, Stacey has won the support of Pennsylvania Republicans, and that victory will be formalized on May 19th of 2026 in the Pennsylvania primary.
So, if I may, Madam Treasurer, are you there?
Jeffrey, I am, and it is so great to be on with you today.
It's great fun.
And I assume you've been, like every other Pennsylvanian, busy with the holiday and all of that kind of thing.
But you have, I think, this small thing known as an election for governor of Pennsylvania upcoming.
That may be keeping you busy.
Yeah, just a little bit.
In addition to my, you know, position as treasurer, where I'm the watchdog for $180 billion.
Right.
Taxpayer money.
Right.
I mean, all of this work is just incredible, and that you have been able to just plunge right in and do this and be such a success as the Pennsylvania state treasurer.
You know, my experience in Pennsylvania politics is that people generally know who the governor is or who's running for governor and who the U.S. Senator is and who's running for senator.
They have a harder time knowing about the state treasurer and the auditor general and that sort of thing because they're lower down on the ballot.
And ordinarily, it's not something, you know, some of these people pick up the paper in the morning to see what's up.
So tell us a little bit, I think, to explain what the treasurer does, because I think it's fabulous.
I've known a couple of your predecessors, or at least one or two of them.
And I just, wow, you really got something here when you're doing this.
So give us a little talk about that.
Absolutely.
So as I think you mentioned, it is my very first elected office.
Had I not hit my mandatory retirement day in the Army Reserve, I would have never even thought about running because serving was and is the honor of a lifetime.
But I think because I come from the private sector and the military that, you know, I was able to jump in and get a lot of stuff done.
And for example, giving back $1 billion of taxpayer money, saving parents and grandparents over $22 million for the college and career savings plan, money that goes right back into their pockets.
I also give back military decorations, and we've been able to give back, gosh, over 530, including 13 Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars, and a Gold Star Medal.
And, you know, we also implemented Pennsylvania Money Match, so gave back $50 million this calendar year to people that didn't even know they had unclaimed property, and so much more.
We also opened up the books at Pennsylvania Treasury and made us the most transparent agency in the entire Commonwealth.
Because you know what?
It's our money.
It's not Harrisburg.
Well, that's right.
That's right.
My experience with government, having worked both in Harrisburg when I started out in the state Senate and then moving on to Washington and working there is the people who run these things think it's their money and it doesn't belong to the taxpayers, the people who are out there every day, you know, getting their kids up and going to work and earning the money that has got to fund whether it's Pennsylvania or the federal government of the United States.
And you get too many people who just want to sort of be spendthrifts with it.
Exactly.
There isn't one taxpayer dollar that, you know, I have to say both sides of the aisle, they want to spend.
And in fact, the last budget that was passed, which was, by the way, 134 days light, we are spending just about $5 billion, Jeffrey, more than what we're bringing in, effectively blowing through the entire surplus.
And so next year, the only thing that's left is the Rainy Day Fund.
Wow.
Wow.
You know, my first lesson in this really was in Washington.
I was working for Congressman Bud Schuster, who was a member of the House Budget Committee.
And so I had to do the staff work and all of that kind of thing.
And one of the things I learned, this was in the first part of President Reagan's term, first term, is that you had Republicans who were great with the rhetoric, but when it came to budget cuts and all of that kind of thing, they didn't want to go there.
And that's when I began to realize this is an institutional problem with legislators, whether they're state legislators or whether they're members of Congress, is that it's, you know, count the guy behind the tree, but don't touch me is more or less the problem with it.
So in other words, we've got to have somebody exactly like you in that treasurer's job to be the watchdog.
Well, I agree.
And right now, you know, Pennsylvania is going in the wrong direction.
We rank 38th economically.
We rank 39th in education.
And we rank 41st overall.
And it just doesn't have to be that way, and it should be that way.
No, and I imagine this will be a great A number one issue for you as you run for governor this next year.
I mean, now there's always this sort of lull, so it seems, with political campaigns that, you know, it takes a while for them to kick off.
And then you get to, you know, the actual election year, and wow, things heat up in a sudden here.
And the work you've got to do is just incredible.
So, you know, I am glad that you're in this and making this an issue because I think most people don't understand.
They understand the office of governor better, I think, than they understand the office of treasurer.
But now is the time for them to be aware and to understand that your experience, whether it was in the military, whether it's in the private sector, whether it's in government, can play a real role in how you would serve as governor of Pennsylvania.
Absolutely, because, you know, just like we expect families to live within their means, our state should be doing the same thing.
And unfortunately, because we both know there will be no programs that get cut, what's going to happen is that taxes will be raised.
And, you know, unfortunately, we have a governor right now that's more interested in Pennsylvania Avenue than Pennsylvanians.
And the fact of the matter is he's never been challenged.
In fact, there's never even been an ad run against him.
But there are two sides to every story.
And with everybody's help, and it is going to be an all-hands-on-deck mission, we're going to be able to tell that story.
And if people want to help, they can go to Garrity4PA.com and check it out.
But when people understand what he stands for, and he is a far left liberal, he believes that biological male should compete against our girls in sports.
He believes in gender-affirming care for trans little kids using your taxpayer dollars.
We talked about the budget and the spending.
And both in his offices of attorney general as well as governor, there are many, many scandals that will need to come out.
And he has sued Donald Trump over two dozen times and brags about it.
And so I think we need a governor that's going to work with the administration, not work against the administration, because like you and I know, Pennsylvania should be leading the nation.
We shouldn't be falling so far behind, you know, states like Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, Tennessee.
Well, you know, sometimes when I had to discuss this topic, I say that his role model is, as a Pennsylvanian, is James Buchanan.
And for people in our audience who may not know who that is, James Buchanan is the only Pennsylvanian elected president of the United States.
It didn't go so well.
He is generally rated by historians as the one before Lincoln.
And it just wasn't a good time for the country.
And I think that Josh's ambition is very much directed towards 2028.
And 2026 is the hurdle that he has to get through or over before he gets there, as does anybody in this situation.
But I do think that that affects how you do your job as governor if you're more interested in running for president.
Absolutely.
He's really a career politician, and he's really only chosen to serve himself.
He's always been in one position looking to jump to the next position.
And he has always had his eyes on the White House.
That's like the worst kept secret in Pennsylvania.
And we all know that Pennsylvania is the ultimate swing state and the key to the Democrats' blue wall.
Excuse me.
Just look at 2016 and 2024.
Democrats don't win nationally if they don't win Pennsylvania.
And so Pennsylvania is It's incredibly important.
And so, again, we need everybody to be united and make sure that we kick this guy out of Harrisburg and away from the White House.
They don't call Pennsylvania the Keystone State for nothing.
And there is a reason for that.
For those who may not know, if you look at a map of Pennsylvania from the early colonies, it was right dead center between north and south.
And yeah, because of its size and its history, the steel industry and coal and mining and all of these things that energy that have played such an enormous role in Pennsylvania history.
And what role do you see as a governor in terms of working with these kind of folks who run these industries?
Oh, my goodness.
There's tremendous opportunity.
We could be the hub of AI.
As you know, 25% of all natural gas in America is in Pennsylvania, and the governor is constantly attacking fracking and dancing around the edges.
I mean, if you look at our neighbors, look at Ohio, look at Virginia, if you look at data centers, they're really, you know, they're doing so much better than us because we are the 12th highest regulated state in the nation, and it is very, very difficult to do business in Pennsylvania.
And again, it doesn't have to be this way.
We could be leading the nation.
We have the best, hardest working people.
We have world-class industries and abundant natural resources that are the envy of the entire world.
Yes, yes, that is exactly right.
And, you know, this state has such wonderful opportunity.
And I must say, having been around America a little bit, you go to places, you know, if you live in Pennsylvania and you go to places like Texas and Florida, and you see that the leaps and bounds they've made in terms of their economy and free markets and all of that kind of thing using their natural resource, it truly is astounding in terms of comparing it with what is not done here in Pennsylvania.
And that's a big task.
And when you are elected, and note, I didn't say if, when you are elected, you're going to have a lot on your hands.
And I think you're going to have a lot of Pennsylvanians who are going to want to pitch in and help you.
I think so as well.
I visit all 67 of our counties every single year, so I've done it five times now.
And what Pennsylvanians tell me, and it doesn't matter which county they're from, that the government just isn't working for them, they feel left behind.
And Pennsylvania right now is mediocre at best.
We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change our state around.
And if we don't, you know, I'm concerned, you know, with the situation, with the budget, and just the lack of support of unleashing the natural resources that we have right under our feet that, you know, it's going to take a generation to get.
All right.
Well, Stacey, I'm getting the break sign here.
So it was wonderful to have you on.
Have a happy new year.
Doubtless, our paths will cross somewhere when I'm back home in Pennsylvania.
And great good luck.
Thank you, Jeffrey.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Okay.
This is Jeffrey Lord sitting in for Sean Hannity.
You can reach us here at 800-941-7326 or 800-941-Sean.
And we'll be back very shortly.
There is breaking news.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump are holding a press conference this minute in Mar-a-Lago. things are happening out there.