State Rep. Bizzarro announces bid for state treasurer, will also run for re-election

State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro has announced his candidacy for state treasurer.

In a video posted Tuesday on YouTube, Bizzarro, D-3rd Dist., said his decision to run is based not only on a desire to protect taxpayer assets and pensions but to largely protect Pennsylvanians from incumbent Republican treasurer Stacy Garrity, who he described as Pennsylvania’s “highest ranking extremist office holder” and “the state leader of a national agenda so radical that it threatens our democracy as it strips away our rights."

The nearly four-minute video contains footage of Garrity speaking at a Harrisburg Capitol protest on Jan. 5, 2021, where Bizzarro claims she supported participants who sought to decertify Pennsylvania’s votes in the 2020 election.

Bizzarro also blasted Garrity for her support of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

"I’m going to fight like hell to make sure Stacy Garrity fails and to prevent the spread of more extremism from Harrisburg to Erie," Bizzarro said in the video. “This is more than a campaign for State Treasurer. It’s a battle to stop the spread of extremism here in Pennsylvania."

Bizzarro added that he'll work to "strengthen programs that protect seniors, help families save for college, and provide low-interest loans for our farmers, non-profits, cities and towns."

“I will defend Pennsylvanians from extremists like Stacy Garrity who are only making things harder for people by spreading lies, creating chaos, and preventing progress," he said.

Bizzarro, 37, of Millcreek, announced he will also run for re-election as state representative. He's been a member of the State House since 2013.

Stacy Garrity campaign consultant fires back

Dennis Roddy, a Garrity campaign consultant, questioned whether Bizzarro had anything to say about the actual responsibilities and functions of state treasurer during his announcement.

"It seems to me that with few qualifications in the office he presumably is seeking and a dismal record in the one he now holds, including a 50-day-a year attendance record, Ryan Bizzarro needs something else to talk about," Roddy told the Erie Times-News on Tuesday.

"I would say he appears to be running for the wrong office, but he is in an office that deals with all of the things he's complaining about and getting nothing done there either."

Roddy added, "Stacy Garrity is in charge of protecting the financial resources of Pennsylvania. Given his love of per diems and expense accounts, it would appear that Ryan Bizzarro's experience with the state purse is in spending it."

Garrity, 59, was elected state treasurer in 2020. She is a businesswoman and a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel. As state treasurer, she oversees an office of more than 300 employees and is tasked with protecting more than $150 billion in state assets, according to the state treasury website.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on X @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: State Rep. Bizzarro launches campaign for PA state treasurer