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Doug Mastriano loses Pa. governor’s race as Josh Shapiro keeps the seat for Democrats

  • Rachel McDevitt/StateImpact Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Republican governor candidate Doug Mastriano stands on stage with his wife Rebecca during election night at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

 Sam Dunklau / WITF

Pennsylvania Republican governor candidate Doug Mastriano stands on stage with his wife Rebecca during election night at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

Franklin County Republican Doug Mastriano, one of the loudest voices attempting to cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election results, lost his bid to become Pennsylvania’s next governor.

The Associated Press called the race for Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro at 12:16 a.m. Wednesday, with 54.6 percent of the vote and 82 percent of votes reported.

Shapiro thanked voters at his election night party.

“Tonight, voters from Gen Z to our seniors, voters from all walks of life, have given me the honor of a lifetime, given me the chance to serve you as Pennsylvania’s next governor,” Shapiro told a cheering crowd of hundreds at his home of Montgomery County, in suburban Philadelphia.

Results are unofficial until certified by the state. Shapiro would succeed term-limited Democrat Tom Wolf.

Mastriano has not conceded as of about 12:30 a.m. Around 11:45 p.m., Mastriano told supporters at his election-night gathering in Camp Hill that he would wait until every vote was counted.

“This is a people’s movement and it’s not going anywhere. We’re going to wait patiently to see what the people of Pennsylvania say,” Mastriano said, asking his supporters to have faith.

“Be bold and courageous, be not discouraged,” he said.

He was trailing Shapiro 54.7 percent to 43.5 percent at the time, with 79 percent of the vote counted.

Pennsylvania 2022 election results governor race

Mastriano was significantly outspent in the campaign and trailed by double digits in six polls taken within two weeks of Election Day. 

The race was closely watched by election experts because in Pennsylvania, the governor appoints the secretary of state, who oversees elections — meaning Mastriano’s choice would direct how the election is run in 2024, when Donald Trump is expected to run. After the November 2020 election, Mastriano tried to help Trump overturn accurate election results to stay in office despite losing to Joe Biden.

Mastriano ran a campaign on right-wing ideals, including limiting abortion access, slashing taxes and environment regulations, expanding the fossil fuel industry and protecting Second Amendment rights.

He spoke frequently about his Christian faith and quoted Bible verses in his speeches. He made his faith such a pillar of his campaign that some observers have labeled him a Christian Nationalist – someone who believes America’s values should be rooted in christianity. Christian nationalism has been tied to white supremacy.

Via Sen. Mastriano's Twitter account.

State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) speaks at a May 11, 2020, rally outside the state capitol in Harrisburg. Mastriano, in green sweater, called for the resignation of Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine.

Mastriano faced a huge disadvantage in fundraising to Attorney General Shapiro. As of Friday afternoon, the Department of State website showed Mastriano had raised $5.8 million this year, compared to Shapiro’s $51.8 million.

Mastriano has served as a state senator since 2019, when he won a special election to represent Adams County and parts of Cumberland, Franklin and York counties.

He held rallies decrying the “tyranny” of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. On his campaign website, his first listed priority is to “put an end to Wolf’s mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and his draconian covid restrictions.”

There is no statewide mandate for Pennsylvanians to get COVID-19 vaccines. The Wolf administration required state workers in government-run medical facilities and congregant homes to either get vaccinated or face regular testing for COVID-19. Business restrictions lifted in May 2021. 

Pa. state Sen. Doug Mastriano, left, seen at the protest outside of the Capitol by Rick Saccone. right.

Rick Saccone / Facebook

Pa. state Sen. Doug Mastriano, left, seen at the Jan. 6 protest outside of the Capitol with Rick Saccone, right. The congressional committee investigating the events of the Capitol attack that day has subpoenaed Mastriano, saying it wants to know, among other things, what he did and saw that day.

Mastriano then took a lead role in spreading election-fraud lies about President Biden’s win in the 2020 general election. Mastriano hosted a policy committee meeting in November 2020 that gave Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani a platform for disinformation.

He organized buses of supporters to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. Photos show Mastriano outside the U.S. Capitol as insurrectionists surged into the building, though he says he did not enter the capitol that day. 

The House January 6th committee subpoenaed Mastriano about his role. He cut short his August interview with the committee and is now suing the committee over its authority to interview him. 

In his campaign, Mastriano has proposed purging all voters off the state’s voter rolls and requiring everyone to re-register, an unprecedented move that elections experts say is illegal and could hurt low-income and minority communities.

Mastriano competed against eight other GOP candidates for governor in this year’s primary, winning by a wide margin, with 43.8 percent of the vote. 

Mastriano spent most of his career in the U.S. Army. He retired as a colonel and taught at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle. His Ph.D. work at the University of New Brunswick in Canada has been criticized by other researchers, and the school recently announced it is looking into its policies and procedures for graduate study.

Mastriano first entered politics in 2018 with a bid for a Congressional seat. He ended the eight-way race in 4th place. 

Pennsylvania will certify its votes on Nov. 28.

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