PENNSYLVANIA
     Nov. 8, 2022 Governor

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+Josh Shapiro/Austin Davis (D)
3,031,137
56.49%
Doug Mastriano/Carrie DelRosso (R)
2,238,477
41.71%
Matt Hackenburg/Tim McMaster (L)
51,611
0.96%
Christina "PK" DiGiulio/M.Bagdes-Canning (G)
24,436
0.46%
Joe Soloski/Nicole Shultz (K)
20,518
0.38%

5,366,179

Voter registration: 8,873,144.
Plurality: 792,660 votes (14.77 percentage points).

PA Department of State





Notes
: 
Gov. Tom Wolf (D) was term limited.  Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) kept the seat in the Democratic column, defeating retired U.S. Army colonel and state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) by a comfortable margin of more than 14 percentage points (1, 2).  Additionally, three third party candidates were on the November ballot: Christina "PK" DiGiulio/Michael Bagdes-Canning (G), Joe Soloski/Nicole Shultz (K) and Matt Hackenburg/Tim McMaster (L).

Mastriano ran a decidedly unconventional campaign.  He avoided interviews with major news outlets.  On Sept. 29 he started 40 days of prayer and fasting open to "anyone who sees the value of and need for prayer and fasting to restore true liberty, as an integral part of the strategy to win the general election."  He did not go up with TV advertising until very late in the race, and then only in a limited way.  On Oct. 7 ad tracking firm AdImpact reported that since the May 17 primary, the Shapiro campaign had spent over $24 million on advertising compared to just under $200,000 for the Mastriano campaign. 

Former President Trump rallied with Mastriano, U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Oz, and "the entire Pennsylvania Trump ticket" at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 3
(>).  Others who campaigned with Mastriano included Gov. Ron DeSantis (FL) on Aug. 19 in Pittsburgh, former Sen. Rick Santorum in Drexel Hill on Sept. 15, and Ben Carson in Bethel Park on Nov. 2.  On Nov. 5 there were dueling rallies as Trump appeared with Mastriano, Oz and "the slate of Trump Endorsed America First candidates" at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe (>) while President Biden and former President Obama rallied with Shapiro, Fetterman and Democrats at Temple University's Liacouras Center in Philadelphia (>).

The was no debate in this race. 

The three third party candidates received little coverage.  In an Oct. 10 appearance at East Falls Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, DiGiulio stated, "
Candidates from the two corporate parties have no solutions for the many problems faced by the voters. They offer voters a scarcity of new ideas. The Green Party has solutions for climate change and for our healthcare crisis. The Green Party has solutions for corruption in Harrisburg.”  Speaking at a candidate rally at the Capitol in Harrisburg on Oct. 24 (>), Hackenburg described himself as "the one and only true populist running for governor this year."  He stated, "Don't be fooled by the two establishment parties.  Neither of them care about you or your families."  All three third party candidates for governor were held to less than 1-percent of the vote.

The Major Party Nominees
Shapiro announced his candidacy on Oct. 13, 2021 (>) and kicked off his campaign with a six-day "Big Fights" bus tour.  He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.  Shapiro was elected AG in 2016 after serving five years as chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and seven years in the Pennsylvania House.  Previously he worked on Capitol Hill, including as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel.  Shapiro endorsed state Rep. Austin Davis for lieutenant governor on Jan. 4, 2022.  Davis tallied 63.0% of the vote in the May 17 primary, topping state Rep. Brian Sims, an attorney and the first openly gay Pennsylvania state legislator, and Raymond Sosa.

Mastriano emerged as the winner of the fiercely competitive May 17 Republican primary after receiving a late endorsement from former President Trump. 
State Rep. Carrie DelRosso topped a field of nine candidates for lieutenant governor, winning the May 17 primary with 25.7% of the vote; she joined Mastriano as his running mate.

Mastriano retired from the Army as a colonel in 2018 after 30 years of service, including along the border with Eastern Europe, in Iraq and in Afghanistan. 
He is a Christian nationalist, has a Ph.D. in history, and has authored several books.  In 2018 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in the Republican primary in PA-13.  In a 2019 special election he was elected to the State Senate representing parts of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York Cos..

Following the 2020 presidential election, Mastriano was a central figure raising questions about the conduct of the election in Pennsylvania (>).  He led the call for a public hearing which took place with Rudy Giuliani in Gettysburg on Nov. 25, introduced a legislative resolution directing "State Department Secretary Kathy Boockvar to withdraw and vacate the certification of the presidential election," and marched on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 
 

GOP Primary Campaign
[primary literature]
By Jan. 2022 the Republican field comprised 15 declared candidates.  Six lesser known candidates withdrew or did not qualify for the May 17 Republican primary ballot, leaving nine candidates in the race:
Montgomery Co. Commissioner Joe Gale, former U.S. Rep Lou Barletta, surgeon Nche Zama, political consultant Charlie Gerow, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, HVAC contractor Doug White, Senate President Pro Tem Jake Corman, former U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, and state Sen. Doug Mastriano.  Debates included Corman, Gale Gerow, Hart and Zama hosted by SpotlightPA at Gettysburg College on Apr. 19 (>), and Barletta, Mastriano, McSwain, and White at the WHTM abc27 studio in Harrisburg on Apr. 27 (>).  Data from FollowtheMoney.org (>) shows the GOP candidates raised over $34 million led by McSwain ($16.4M), White ($7.8M), Corman ($5.5M), Barletta ($2.1M) and Mastriano ($1.8M).  McSwain received significant support from billionaire Jeffrey Yass. 

Trump weighed in on the race in an Apr. 12 statement, urging voters not to vote for McSwain and labeling him a "coward" who
"did absolutely nothing on the massive Election Fraud that took place in Philadelphia and throughout the commonwealth."  Trump finally endorsed Mastriano on May 14, writing, "There is no one in Pennsylvania who has done more, or fought harder, for Election Integrity than State Senator Doug Mastriano." 

Mastriano is typically described as "far-right" or "extremist" and even some Republicans viewed him as unelectable.  In the weeks leading up to the May primary, there were reports of establishment Republicans "panicking" over the prospect of a Mastriano win.  The Shapiro campaign also saw Mastriano as beatable, and ran an ad stating, "If Doug Mastriano wins, it's a win for what Donald Trump stands for (>)." 

As the primary campaign drew to a close, Republican leaders sought to coalesce around Barletta.  Corman withdrew on May 12 and endorsed Barletta; Hart withdrew on May 13 and endorsed Barletta; Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs switched its endorsement from McSwain to Barletta on May 15. 
Mastriano won the primary by much larger margin than expected, gaining 43.8% of the vote followed by Barletta (20.3%), McSwain (15.8%), White (9.6%), Hart (4.1%), Gale (2.1%), Corman (1.9%), Gerow (1.3%) and Zama (1.2%).  In his victory speech, Mastriano noted that his showing was stronger than Dick Thornburgh's primary win in 1978 and Tom Ridge's in 1994 (>). 
 



Campaign Managers:
Josh Shapiro:  Dana Fritz
(Jan. 2020)  Deputy chief of staff (Dec. 2017-Dec. 2019), communications director (July-Nov. 2019) and special assistant (Jan.-Dec. 2017) to Attorney General Shapiro.  Deputy campaign manager and finance director on Shapiro for Pennsylvania (Attorney General), Jan. 2016-Jan. 2017.  Deputy campaign manager and finance director on Shapiro/Arkoosh for Montgomery County, Jan.-Dec. 2015. Finance director on Friends of Josh Shapiro, June 2013-Jan. 2015.  Paid communications coordinator for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, June-Dec. 2012.  Bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Temple University, 2012.

Doug Mastriano:  Vishal
Jetnarayan
Principal at Misfit Leaders from May 2018.  Founder and president of eGen Co. LLC, a publishing and digital media company, Jan. 2010-July 2017.  Author of several books.  Studied business administration and management at Hagerstown Community College.  Chambersburg resident.  Grew up in Durban, South Africa.


See also:
Nicole Narea.  "A Pennsylvania county delayed certifying the midterms. That has scary implications for 2024."  Vox, Dec. 20, 2022.

Mark Scolforo and Brooke Schultz.  "Recount requests delay Pennsylvania election certification."  Associated Press, Dec. 14, 2022.

William Bender.  "How Doug Mastriano's run for Pa. governor veered far off course."  The Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 9, 2022.

Chris Potter.  "Dueling speeches by Mastriano, Shapiro lay out stakes, opposing views in final days of campaign."  WESA, Nov. 3, 2022.

Jennifer Kay.  "Mastriano's Pennsylvania Campaign Relies on Avoiding Questioning."  Bloomberg Government, Nov. 2, 2022.

William Bender.  "The final days of Doug Mastriano's shoestring campaign: Is his 'army' of fans enough?"  The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 25, 2022.

Angela Couloumbis and Kate Huangpu.  "Most outside spending on Pa. governor's race has one aim: to defeat Doug Mastriano."  Spotlight PA via WESA, Oct. 25, 2022

Kurt Bresswein.  "Who is Matt Hackenburg, the Libertarian candidate for Pa. governor from Northhampton County? (UPDATE), lehighvalleylive.com, Oct. 25, 2022.
 
Ed Kilgore.  "Pennsylvania's Doug Mastriano May Be 2022's Worst Candidate."  New York, Sept. 28, 2022.

Brian Bumsted.  "Mastriano won't talk to the mainstream press, an unconventional strategy as contest against Shapiro begins."  LancasterOnline, June 19, 2022.

James D. Walsh.  "The Potato Roll Empire Bankrolling a Christian Nationalist."  New York, June 14, 2022.

David Siders.  "'Comes Across as a Cult Guy’: The Pennsylvania Candidate Freaking Out Both the Left and the Right."  Politico Magazine, June 10, 2022.

Stephen Caruso and Ethan Edward Coston.  "Hou Doug Mastriano built a grassroots movement in Pa. on election denial, Christianity, and Facebook."  SpotlightPA, May 23, 2022.
 
Andrew Seidman and Chris Brennan.  "How the Pa. Republican establishment broke itself trying to stop Doug Mastriano."  Philadelphia Inquirer, May 20, 2022.

Tom Boggioni.  "Too far right: Former adviser slams Trump's endorsement of PA's Mastriano."  RawStory, May 14, 2022.

Katie Meyer.  "Where are Pennsylvania's candidates for governor getting their money?"  WHYY, May 12, 2022.

Holly Otterbein and Zach Montellaro.  "Pennsylvania GOP panics over possible Mastriano nomination."  Politico, May 10, 2022.

Andrew Seidman.  "Josh Shapiro just made it clear which Republican he wants to run against in the governor's race."  Philadelphia Inquirer, May 5, 2022

Larry Platt.  "'The Jewish JFK.'"  The Philadelphia Citizen, Oct. 29, 2021.

David Siders.  "How a Trump ally rode Trump’s election fraud lie to political prominence."  Politico, June 16, 2021.


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