BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Abortion. Election integrity. Transgender students in sports. School funding and curriculum.
Those are just some of the issues on the line when voters cast their ballots for Pennsylvania’s next governor this election.
Either Republican Doug Mastriano or Democrat Josh Shapiro will find himself in the governor’s mansion next year.
Whoever wins could tip the balance of power in Harrisburg.
Outgoing Gov. Tom Wolf has served as a Democratic bulwark over his eight years in office, frustrating Republican lawmakers, who control the legislature, with 63 vetoes of bills and resolutions.
A Republican in the governor’s office could mean more favorable odds for the GOP legislative agenda, while a Democrat could continue to stymie conservatives.
Normally, a race to control a critical swing state would draw major investments from both parties, but that hasn’t played out in this contest.
Mastriano’s history of controversies has kept deep-pocketed donors at bay, letting Shapiro build up a massive financial advantage and a double-digit lead in all reputable polls. But the Republican hopeful is attempting an upset like Donald Trump’s in the 2016 presidential race.
Mastriano, who aided Trump’s effort to overturn Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results, earned the former president’s endorsement in May.
- The outcome of Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race could tip the balance of power in Harrisburg.
- Attorney General Josh Shapiro has built up a large lead in the polls while pledging to act as a check on the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
- State Sen. Doug Mastriano, known for his ties to Christian Nationalism and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, is the Republican standard-bearer.
The Candidates
Mastriano is a retired Army colonel who saw active duty during the Gulf War and ended his military career as an instructor at the U.S. Army War College.
After retiring in 2017, he entered politics and in 2019 was elected state senator, representing Adams County and surrounding areas.
He rose to prominence the following year as a fierce critic of Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration, calling for the resignation of state Health Secretary Rachel Levine, advocating for reopening the state at the height of the pandemic and urging people to ignore precautions such as wearing a mask.
Following the 2020 presidential election, Mastriano aided Trump’s efforts to overturn the results in Pennsylvania, arranging meetings between lawmakers and the president’s legal team. He also called for the General Assembly to appoint a false slate of electors. Republican statehouse leaders rejected the effort.
Mastriano took busloads of supporters to Trump’s Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally, and video shows he marched beyond police barriers to the steps of the Capitol as authorities tried to hold back rioters.
Mastriano, who's prominent in Christian nationalist circles, has said Islam is not compatible with the Constitution and that the separation of church and state is a myth. He also has associated with white supremacists, drawing widespread condemnation of the state senator.
Shapiro evidently saw that as an advantage. During the primary, he ran an ad linking Mastriano to Trump that many observers believe bolstered Mastriano's standing in the Republican primary.
Shapiro is a veteran Democratic politician who’s proven adept at working with Republicans. As a state legislator in a nearly split House of Representatives, he brokered a power-sharing agreement in 2007 that made moderate Republican Dennis O’Brien House Speaker while protecting Democratic influence.
This year, he’s garnered endorsements from prominent Republicans, including former Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent and former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.
Shapiro first entered the national spotlight as Pennsylvania’s attorney general in 2018. His office released a grand jury report that exposed decades of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church. The findings sparked outrage and led to similar investigations across the country.
The Issues
Abortion
Mastriano has called for all abortions to be illegal once cardiac activity is detected, which typically occurs after six weeks of development. He does not support any exceptions. In a 2019 interview with WITF, he said women who have an abortion beyond that point should be charged with murder.
Shapiro says on his website he will veto any bill that would restrict abortion rights in Pennsylvania. When Texas passed a strict ban on abortion after six weeks last year, he was among dozens of Democratic attorneys general from other states to file an amicus brief in federal court arguing the ban was unconstitutional.
Election Integrity
While he supported the creation of no-excuse mail-in ballots as a lawmaker in 2019, Mastriano has reversed course and said he would end the practice if elected governor. Mastriano said he would require all voters to re-register to cast a ballot, which likely would violate state and federal laws designed to protect minorities from being disenfranchised.
Shapiro successfully defended lawsuits by the Trump campaign to overturn Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results. If elected, he said he will veto any measure to roll back vote-by-mail ballots. He also supports adding same-day voter registration in Pennsylvania.
Education
Mastriano supports creating a school voucher program, arguing that open market competition between public, charter, private, religious or home schools will create better results while driving down costs. His plan calls for state funding of $15,000 per student at their school of choice. The Pennsylvania Department of Education listed 1.6 million students in public schools and another 205,347 students in other schools for the 2021-22 school year. The department reported the state spent an average of $19,666 per student that year. This would amount to a $7.8 billion cut in public education while directing $3 billion to schools that don’t currently receive public funding.
Mastriano also advocates for the end of state property taxes, which are the primary funding source for public schools.
Shapiro backs Wolf’s record of boosting education funding and calls for altering the state’s distribution formula. He’s expressed support for parents and advocates who are suing the state to funnel more funding to poor districts. However, he has also voiced support for Republican legislation that would let families in badly performing districts receive state funding for options such as private schools or tutoring.
LGBTQ+ Matters
Mastriano, in a 2018 interview with News Talk 103.7 FM, called for the repeal of same-sex marriage. During the same conversation, he said same-sex couples should be barred from adopting children and called proposed non-discrimination protections against LGTBQ+ people “madness.” This year, he voted for a bill that would bar transgender women athletes from participating on women’s school teams. Wolf vetoed that bill.
Shapiro advocates expanding hate crime laws to protect the LGBTQ+ community. As a Montgomery County commissioner in 2013, he offered marriage certificates to same-sex couples in defiance of state law at the time. He supported Wolf’s decision to veto the transgender student athlete bill, saying interscholastic school sport associations should have final say on the matter.
