PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After losing to Gov. Josh Shapiro in the gubernatorial election, state Senator Doug Mastriano spoke out about what he thinks went wrong.
Mastriano pinned the blame, in part, on a Republican party that he feels abandoned and maligned him.
“So all you had was my own campaign, my own messaging, basically, without any support.”
He also feels mail-in voting played a factor in the loss.
While on the Dom Giordano Program on Talk Radio 1210, Mastriano said he can’t see how Republicans win a statewide election without embracing no-excuse, mail-in ballots.
“It offends Republicans and I get it, you know, it’s icky, but if we want to win, we're going to operate within the law.”
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Shapiro defeated Mastriano by 15 points. Republican political consultant Christopher Nicholas noted the way people voted likely did not have a factor into why Mastriano lost.
“I think the state last year could have voted by carrier pigeon, and Doug Mastriano still would have lost in a landslide.”
“My concern is, by focusing on the method by which people vote, that creates a crutch for us in the GOP and pushes us away from what we really need to do.”
Nicholas says what they really need to do is choose conservative candidates who can appeal to a broad swath of voters to win statewide.
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He added that, while Mastriano is a great fit for his Pennsylvania senate seat, he was not a good candidate for the entire state.
“Because the entire state is not as conservative as south central Pennsylvania, Gettysburg and Chambersburg, that region.”
Republican strategist Aaron Cohen said coming to terms with mail-in balloting is overdue, but candidates matter.
“Just simply embracing it is not going to make someone vote for you,” Cohen said. “You might get some additional voters who may not vote on election day, but I don't think that it's going to drastically change the outcome if you're not putting up a product that people can support.”
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Christopher Borick, Muhlenberg pollster and political science professor, says Republicans perform better in statewide races when they put up candidates with wider appeal.
“It's when the candidates are more ideological, more bombastic, more out there, if you will, in terms of some of their rhetoric and their positions where they struggle in the general election.”