Sayre High School graduate and retired Army Reserve Colonel Stacy Garrity has been elected Pennsylvania state treasurer in a race that was too close to call on election night last week, but on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported Garrity received 3,236,499 votes (48.9%) to incumbent treasurer Joseph Torsella’s 3,159,894 (47.7%). Torsella conceded in a phone call to Garrity’s campaign staff. Garrity is the first Republican to win the office in 20 years.
Garrity issued a statement Tuesday on her campaign’s Facebook page:
“We did it! After 10 months of hard work, we won the Pennsylvania state treasurer race!
After graduating from Sayre High School in Bradford County, Stacy earned a degree in finance and economics from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.
While serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, Stacy started work as a cost accountant at Global Tungsten & Powders Corp., a global supplier of refractory powders, and worked her way up to become the first of two female vice presidents. She also serves on the board of Bradford County United Way and is a trustee of Guthrie Hospital.
Stacy’s service in the Army Reserve brought her to national attention. Amid scandals about prisoner abuse at other facilities, the national media highlighted her stellar performance as one of the officers in charge of an internment camp for enemy combatants in Iraq.
Iraqis dubbed her “the Angel of the Desert” when her service at Camp Bucca in Southern Iraq resulted in a perfect record. She kept the camp secure and American troops safe without a single complaint of abuse from Iraqi soldiers interned there.
