Jan. 6 rally attendee Doug Mastriano wins Republican primary for Pennsylvania governor

PITTSBURGH — State Sen. Doug Mastriano, who attended the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally and worked with former President Trump’s legal team to overturn the 2020 election results, won the Republican governor’s primary in Pennsylvania Tuesday night.

Mastriano emerged from a crowded field despite late efforts from some Republican power brokers to stop him, concerned his positions would prove toxic in the November general election. Those efforts were undercut by an endorsement Saturday from Trump.

Mastriano will face state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who ran unopposed in the race to replace Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who is leaving office due to term limits.

A 58-year-old former Army colonel, Mastriano won a special election in 2019 for a seat in south-central Pennsylvania, and came to prominence for his work with the Trump legal team in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s presidential win. Mastriano organized a faux “hearing” in Gettysburg where Rudy Giuliani promoted conspiracy theories about the election and was joined on the campaign trail by Jenna Ellis, another Trump lawyer who praised Mastriano’s efforts.

Mastriano helped arrange buses to the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the Capitol riot. He spent part of the day on the Capitol grounds, although there is no evidence he entered the building.

In a May 2021 statement, Mastriano said, “I followed the directions of the Capitol Police and respected all police lines as I came upon them. Even disingenuous internet sleuths know that police lines did shift throughout the course of the day. I followed those lines as they existed.”

He’s also been subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the events of the day, but said at a recent debate there were no legal issues stemming from his Jan. 6 activity.

Advocates for fair elections are worried that if Mastriano is governor in 2024, he might attempt to obstruct the certification of the state’s Electoral College votes if a Democrat wins the race. In Pennsylvania, the governor also selects the secretary of the state, who serves as chief elections officer.

“[Mastriano] has revealed the Deceit, Corruption, and outright Theft of the 2020 Presidential Election, and will do something about It,” Trump said in his endorsement, adding, “He is a fighter like few others, and has been with me right from the beginning, and now I have an obligation to be with him.”

While all of the candidates running in the GOP primary said they’d restrict abortion access, Mastriano went farther than his rivals. He introduced a six-week ban shortly after entering the Legislature and said during the gubernatorial campaign that he would ban the procedure without exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which handicaps races nationwide, said Tuesday night that Shapiro is now favored to win in November. Prior to Mastriano's victory, they had described the race as a toss-up.

In a statement Tuesday night, Shapiro called Mastriano “a dangerous extremist who wants to take away our freedoms.”

“Mastriano wants to dictate how Pennsylvanians live their lives — that’s not freedom,” Shapiro said. “Real freedom comes when we trust Pennsylvanians to make their own decisions about who they love, who they pray to, and how and when they start a family here in our Commonwealth.”