PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) has won the Republican Party nomination for Pennsylvania governor, outlasting down-to-the-wire attempts by party insiders to erode his polling lead.
Mastriano, an Army veteran who served in Desert Storm, built his reputation by criticizing Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration on COVID-19 pandemic protocols and, like former President Donald Trump, making unfounded and since-discredited claims of widespread voting fraud in the 2020 election.
Trump formally backed Mastriano days before the election, while state GOP leaders attempted to coalesce behind former U.S. Congressman Lou Barletta, seeing him as more palatable to general election swing voters. State Sen. Jake Corman and former U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart ended their candidacies to endorse Barletta. Former U.S. Attorney William McSwain and Delaware County businessman Dave White declined to exit the race, convinced they could emerge on top.
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When the race was called, Mastriano held a double-digit lead on Barletta, his nearest challenger, with McSwain and White significantly behind.
In November, Mastriano will now face Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Shapiro tweeted: "Doug Mastriano will be my opponent — and he is the most extreme gubernatorial candidate in the country. He would ban abortion, end vote by mail, and rip away our freedoms."
In response to Mastriano's victory over his Republican opponents, Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesperson Marisa Nahem issued a statement saying calling him "extreme and dangerous" and "out-of-touch with Pennsylvanians."
“The Republican Party just nominated an extreme and dangerous candidate for Governor. Doug Mastriano’s extremism goes well beyond Donald Trump, and he was able to win the primary by embracing absurd election lies, hanging out with QAnon conspiracy theorists, and calling for a complete ban on abortion.
“The next Governor of Pennsylvania will have the power to protect or undermine our elections, defend or restrict our rights — including the right to choose and unionize — and will chart the future of our Commonwealth.”
Elected to the state Senate in 2019, Mastriano is a firebrand politician who often quotes biblical scripture. He paid for buses to take Pennsylvanians to the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. On Feb. 15, 2022, the U.S. House committee investigating the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection subpoenaed Mastriano. He insists he left before things got violent.
Also on the ballot Tuesday were longtime central Pennsylvania political strategist Charlie Gerow, Poconos-based heart surgeon Nche Zama and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale.
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The results, as calculated by the Associated Press, are below.