PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Leaders in Pennsylvania’s Republican Party are pushing to unify behind one candidate in the governor’s race next week in an effort to get past the frontrunner, state Sen. Doug Mastriano.
There are nine candidates in the race. Multiple sources confirmed calls were made to those seeking the nomination, encouraging them to drop out and show support for a single nominee in an attempt to block Mastriano.
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Polls show Mastriano with about 25% of the vote, with three candidates — former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, former Delaware County Councilman Dave White and former northeastern Pennsylvania Congressman Lou Barletta — about 10 points behind him.
Five other candidates are in the low single digits, well off the pace.
The McSwain and White campaigns both say they have no plans to get out of the race, and both will campaign as planned this week with the expectation of winning on Tuesday.
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Barletta’s campaign argues he is the only candidate who could beat presumptive Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro in the fall. Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania, is unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Republican insiders feel Mastriano is too far-right-wing, unpredictable and controversial to win the general election in November.
Earlier this week, the state Senate majority leader, Republican Kim Ward, came out in favor of White, saying Mastriano may appeal to base voters in the primary, but “the Democrats will destroy him with swing votes.”
Ballots are printed and cannot be changed between now and the Tuesday primary. That has many party insiders questioning why this conversation is happening now and not several months ago.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party has not publicly endorsed a candidate.
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