Pennsylvania GOP panics over possible Mastriano nomination

[JoeOtterbein]

Politico

Republicans are increasingly worried that a ticket led by gubernatorial frontrunner Doug Mastriano could lead to defeat in November.

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN and ZACH MONTELLARO

05/10/2022 07:19 PM EDT

Updated: 05/10/2022 08:40 PM EDT

PHILADELPHIA — Top Republicans are mounting a last-ditch, behind-the-scenes effort to stop state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a leading voice in the movement to overturn the 2020 election results, from winning the party nomination for governor in Pennsylvania.

With only days to go before the May 17 primary, GOP gubernatorial campaigns and leading state and county officials have been in discussions about uniting behind a single candidate to avoid a scenario in which Mastriano wins the crowded race by taking advantage of a splintered vote. If that doesn’t work, another option is persuading the candidates in single-digits in the polls to drop out.

Several gubernatorial campaigns have been involved in the talks, four GOP sources told POLITICO, in addition to Andy Reilly, a Republican National Committeeman, and Sam DeMarco, chair of the Allegheny County Republican Party.

DeMarco, the leader of one of the biggest county parties in the state and the chair of the Southwest caucus, confirmed that he is “a participant in those discussions.” On Tuesday, he tweeted out a poll showing Mastriano struggling against presumptive Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro, and announced that he is personally throwing his weight behind one of Mastriano’s top primary opponents, businessman Dave White, which he said is “of his own volition.”

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more at link

I love this in the head line, "GOP panics"!!!

[Demovictory9]

1. but the GOP base likes em bigoted and stupid

[Cosmocat]

3. The "base" knows FULL well he intends to overturn elections for republicans

They are THIS close to the complete overthrow of American democracy, and they know Mastriano is full on board with it.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Mastrianao has been running all kinds of ads here in Philly

at least on the local all-news radio station (haven't turned the TV on except a couple times to see confirmation votes on CSPAN). This would be an expensive media market for him.

Originally I only heard his ads in the late afternoon around drive-time (and immediately turned the radio off). But I have randomly turned on the radio during the day and he is running them then as well. Haven't heard any other candidate's radio ads, whether Democratic or Republican.

And the Philly Inquirer had this lovely ditty on the front page of today's (print edition of the) paper -

Pa. GOP insiders are plotting an 11th-hour plan to stop Doug Mastriano in the governor’s race


by Andrew Seidman and Jonathan Tamari
Published May 10, 2022


Pennsylvania Republican insiders are making a last-ditch effort to rally behind a single candidate in the gubernatorial primary – and defeat the front-runner, Doug Mastriano. Republican leaders are trying to corral Mastriano’s four leading rivals to urge all but one of them to drop out — and endorse the one with the best poll numbers. One version of the proposal calls for rallying behind former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, who was well-liked by former President Donald Trump and polling in second place in the latest public survey. It’s a long-shot ploy a week before the primary that many Republicans believe is likely to fail.

But it reflects the panic in some quarters over the likelihood Mastriano, a far-right state senator from Franklin County, will lead the GOP ticket this fall. “Everyone is coming to the realization we should have come to two months ago,” said a source close to one of the campaigns: that Mastriano would lose a general election by double digits to state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and there needs to be a single alternative. Hoping to head off that possibility, a number of party insiders and representatives of the campaigns chasing Mastriano met this week to discuss coalescing around just one of the alternatives for governor — Barletta, state Senate leader Jake Corman, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, or Dave White, a former Delaware County councilman.

None have been able to catch Mastriano, but organizers of the effort hope that by uniting, they might stop a candidate who has a strong floor of support, but perhaps a limited ceiling given some of his views. Corman has not gained nearly as much traction as the others, and some insiders are reluctant to rally behind McSwain because Trump specifically urged primary voters not to back him. Trump last month called McSwain a “coward” for not prosecuting baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Yet no deal was struck, with several sources saying White refused to drop out because he thinks he still has a chance to win, and has personally invested in his campaign, lending or giving it $5 million. But two of the sources are still optimistic a deal could be reached as early as Wednesday, when the results of an independent, private poll are expected to come in. The Republican sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details of private discussions. Still, many griped that it was far too late — a week from the May 17 primary — for the party to take action. The state GOP declined to endorse at its winter meeting in February, leaving a sprawling field intact.

(snip)

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-republican-governor-doug-mastriano-election-20220510.html