Faction Of PA GOP Rallies Against Mastriano

HARRISBURG, PA — With the all-important 2022 midterm elections coming up, Pennsylvania finds itself once again in the national political spotlight. Long seen as a bellweather swing state whose gentle sways to the left and right would indicate how the rest of the country was leaning, this year has the added importance of practical influence: the 2022 gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races could be hugely influential to the future balance of power in both the state and nation.

The race for the next governor finds voters split along all the old familiar lines: most Democrats support current Gov. Tom Wolf and the man Wolf has endorsed as his successor, current Attorney General Josh Shapiro. In a state which former President Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 and nearly won in 2020, a man running on many of his same platforms and views, State Sen. Doug Mastriano, has the support of most Republicans.

But an ardent undercurrent of frustrated moderate Republicans, including some of those who backed Lou Barletta and David McCormick in the spring primaries, are now calling for resistance on the right to the Mastriano-Trump movement.

A group called "Republicans4Shapiro" has been formed by Craig Snyder, a former chief of staff for moderate republican U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, and former U.S. Rep. Jim Greenwood. The group says they'll target "the significant percentage" of registered Republicans and independents in the state who do not align with Shapiro.

"(We) will communicate with them across multiple media platforms to encourage these voters to withhold their votes from Mastriano, regardless of whatever objections they may have to the policy orientation of the Democratic Party, either in the state or nationally," the group's website states. "It will give a safe harbor to the many Republicans who find Mastriano and his radicalism simply unacceptable. "

In a video shared by Mastriano to his Facebook page, campaigner Joe Sterns said the movement was irreleveant, noting Trump's 2016 victory.

"They don’t need the swamp to win," Sterns said. "They’re more of a nuisance than anything.”

The launch of the political action committee comes just days after group of nine Pennsylvania Republican politicians announced their endorsement of Shapiro. The list included former Congressmen Charlie Dent and Greenwood, along with well-known southeastern Pennsylvania Republican leaders like Ken Davis, Danny O'Brien, and Sandra Schultz Newman.

The latest polls have Shapiro maintaining a slight lead. FiveThirtyEight's forecast model gives Shapiro the nod in the fall, prediciting he'll win 51.1 percent of support to Mastriano's 46.7.