Doug Mastriano Bucks the GOP Establishment in Pennsylvania

The Trump-endorsed state senator wins the Republican gubernatorial nomination and will face Democrat Josh Shapiro in November.

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CHAMBERSBURG, Pa.—The energy was high and Christian worship music loud at Tuesday evening’s election night party for retired Army colonel and state Sen. Doug Mastriano in Chambersburg. The Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for governor sailed to victory with 44 percent of the primary vote in the race to succeed outgoing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolfe.

His party—featuring a smoke machine, free T-shirts, and former Donald Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis—crystalized the  upcoming match-up between Mastriano and Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s current attorney general who ran uncontested in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for governor.

Moments after clinching the Republican nomination after spending hardly any money on advertising during the primary, Mastriano employed jolting rhetoric, telling the crowd during his election night speech that the future for Pennsylvania under Shapiro would be “an oppressive regime not unlike East Germany” where “freedoms will be snatched away.” 

But winning the general election will be no cakewalk for Mastriano in a state that skews more purple than red. An ardent Trump supporter, Mastriano attended the “Save America” march that preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol last year, and was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6 for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report had initially rated the general election race a tossup but changed the race to “leans Democrat” after Mastriano’s primary victory.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Looks like I’ll be writing in or voting LP again if this is the type candidates we’re going to get.

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  2. Avatar photo
    Devin H

    "That sentiment was echoed by the conservative outlets in attendance. 'The media, the Democrats, the left are going to fight him tooth and nail,' a reporter from the conservative-leaning media outlet Real America’s Voice said on camera early Tuesday evening. (According to his colleague, Real America’s Voice is a spin-off of One America News that plays to the MAGA base.)"

    I'm confused. Why is this quote attached to a "reporter from...Real America's Voice" without giving that person's name?

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    BrettH

    Enjoyed the read, thanks Audrey.

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  4. The Nobody

    I understand why titles are worded a certain way to drive viewership, but I think we need to acknowledge that that the populist right are the establishment now, not the old right.

    Also, how do we have so many crazy former military officers? People like Flynn, McGregor, Gabbard, and this guy...geez.

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    Dusty

    Looking at the county by county map, should I be confused that Barnette and Oz did better in the Philly suburbs while McCormick appears to have done better around Pittsburgh and in Western PA? I was seeing Oz and Barnette as more Trumpy and McCormick as most establishment-y, so I was expecting the opposite. Though I admittedly don't know PA politics that well.

    (I know McCormick is surrounded by Trump guys and also vied for Trump's endorsement, so I'm not saying he's the establishment, just relative to Oz/Barnette).

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    George.Rozes

    Do any Oz voters know he is Muslim and his name is Turkish for MOHAMMAD?

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    1. Seth

      I'm sure there's an easy Obama birther joke in there somewhere...

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    Pat Riot

    Here's the correct headline:

    "Establishment Candidate Doug Mastriano wins in Pennsylvania"

    All you do when you position Trump as anything other than "the establishment" for the GOP is betray your wishful thinking.

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    1. Seth

      Yeah, I chuckled at the "vote against the party bosses" quote in there. Does that mean anti-MAGA candidates will soon be fashionable with the populists?

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        Pat Riot

        The marketing for the GOP today reminds me of those ads for those "ultra exclusive" gold-colored credit cards that are only available to 47 million people.

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        1. Seth

          You mean like these?

          https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-pac-is-launching-an-official-trump-gold-card-2022-4

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            Pat Riot

            Exactly :-).

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    Theirn Scott

    “When party bosses tell me what candidate to pick, I know I’m gonna pick the other guy.” Unless, of course, it's the party boss of your particular faction of the party who tells you.

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  9. Matt Rippin

    One thing that gets lost in this Trump/Anti-Trump conversation is that Pennsylvania didn't really have a clear alternative in either race. Barletta is very Trumpy himself--in a lot of ways, he was MAGA before the movement had a name. I suspect McCormick and McSwain privately loathe Trump and what he's done to the GOP, but neither of them ran that sort of campaign. They both tried to split the difference and ended up in a gray space. Between the senate and governor's races, you had about eight guys running as almost identical candidates: "I hunt, I wear plaid, I hate socialists, I once appeared on stage with Trump."

    The successes of Youngkin and Kemp show that good candidates can lead the GOP away from Trump. But when all you have is a slate of also-rans, of course Trump's influence will continue to hold the most sway.

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      An Actual Cat

      Everyone running seemed to think that the only people in the PA GOP are Trump voters first and Republicans second (if at all). They used to say that PA is Philly on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in between. The Philly suburbs kept that from being quite true. Now that we've lost those moderate upscale voters, the Pennsyltucky moon unit brigade holds all the power in the party.

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      1. Matt Rippin

        Maybe, but you probably could have said the same thing about Georgia and Virginia until respectable candidates upset the narrative. I still believe a good candidates can reorient the PA GOP.

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          An Actual Cat

          I think it can happen, too. I just don't know how we can get good candidates onto the general election ballot. Maybe a few elections-worth of nominating nuts and getting whacked in the general will make politics seem boring again.

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          1. Kevin Brady

            I love your Dispatch name, and I'm so hoping it's a reference to that hilarious pandemic-era Zoom call in TX. I'll never forget the guy apologizing to the judge, saying, "Um, I'm not actually a cat." Well, duh...

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      Pat Riot

      It's almost like *Trump* is the establishment and non-Trump candidates are the ones who have to "buck the establishment" in order to win.

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        Logical

        MAGA IS the establishment. Trump is the current figure head, but MAGA doesn't need Trump anymore.

        The three-legged stool left the station in 2009. We are just now getting full confirmation.

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      Chuck

      I wish Zama got more attention. He's got reasonable ideas regarding racial equity issues that get dismissed when offered by white dudes. He's not alone, of course, but black politicians that deviate from the social justice script are far too rare.

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        Seth Higgins

        I loved Zama. His message was optimistic and future oriented, much like Reagan's. He even visited my bumpkin corner of rural Pennsylvania, Elk County, on a couple occasions. Mastriano didn't visit once but still managed to get over 50% of the vote in Elk County. The people want a nutty culture warrior and got one. My home has a lot to be mad about, it has depressingly high rates of deaths of despair and population decline, but Mastriano isn't focused on fixing any of it. He just, to steal from Wesley Yang, produces right wing copypasta.

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    4. Avatar photo
      Seth Higgins

      Exactly!!! No real alternatives and too much attempting to split the difference.

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  10. Avatar photo
    John D. Wright

    Audrey, tell Jonah and Steve if they work you too late too often I will be protesting outside their houses. Kidding aside I appreciate the hard work and the good work.

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