8 Pa. congress members endorse GOP's Doug Mastriano for governor

HARRISBURG — Eight of Pennsylvania’s representatives to the U.S. House, all Republicans who voted against certifying the state’s electoral results in the 2020 presidential election, formally endorsed state Sen. Doug Mastriano in the gubernatorial election.

U.S. Reps. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, Mike Kelly, Lloyd Smucker, John Joyce, Fred Keller, Dan Meuser, Scott Perry and Guy Reschenthaler signed an endorsement collectively for Mastriano over his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Mastriano’s campaign announced the endorsements Monday.

“Doug Mastriano’s passion for life, freedom and liberty make him the clear choice for our next governor. We respectfully ask that Pennsylvania’s voters consider what is on the line this November and join us in voting for Doug Mastriano,” the Congress members’ joint endorsement states.

???? PA Members Of Congress Endorse Doug Mastriano For Governor “Mastriano’s passion for life, freedom, and liberty make him the clear choice”https://t.co/jS5Ux6Ci7P pic.twitter.com/vEWRPY13ah

— Doug Mastriano (@dougmastriano) August 1, 2022

Election reform has been a central theme of Mastriano’s platform, one inspired by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Mastriano advocates for the repeal of Act 77, which authorized universal mail-in voting. He voted for the law but has since claimed Democrats and activist judges highjacked it.

He also pushes for voter identification at the polls, expanding access for poll watchers and appointment of a secretary of state — a proposed appointee he hasn’t identified — “with experience in securing elections from fraud.”

The Republican nominee chartered buses to the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, which devolved into a deadly riot outside the U.S. Capitol. He organized a Senate committee meeting in Gettysburg weeks after the election at which Trump himself called in to claim the election was stolen. and like Perry, Mastriano was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee as it investigates Trump’s attempt to overturn the election’s results.

Republicans fielded nine candidates for the party nod in the spring primary. Support was split including among those offering Mastriano his latest endorsement. Keller and Meuser publicly supported Lou Barletta. Thompson sided with candidate Charlie Gerow.

Now, Republicans say they are working to unite behind the candidate with a comparatively small campaign bank roll but clear and widespread support among rank-and-file party members, particularly in rural Pennsylvania.

“I am grateful and humbled to receive the endorsement of these great champions of liberty and prosperity,” the Mastriano campaign statement read. “Pennsylvanians have been deprived of their freedom for too long, under the harsh Democrat policies that Josh Shapiro will reinforce if elected. I look forward to working with our congressional delegation and making our commonwealth a place where the people are free and the economy is thriving. We will be strong partners for change in Pennsylvania.”

The endorsement comes in the wake of the discovery of the Mastriano campaign’s $5,000 investment for advertising consulting with Gab, a far-right social media platform criticized for bigoted and antisemitic rhetoric by some of its users.

Mastriano recently released a statement rejecting anti-Semitism and distancing his campaign from comments made by the platform’s founder, but also blamed Democrats and media outlets for alleged “smears.”

Multiple media outlets have reported that the Mastriano Gab account has been deactivated.

Shapiro is Jewish. Along with faith leaders as well as the Republican Jewish Coalition and elected Democrats, Shapiro has roundly criticized Mastriano’s association with Gab and its founder, Andrew Torba, who’s expressed extremist Christian views rejecting Jews and others from conservatism in what he termed as an “explicitly Christian movement,” according to online media analysis site Media Matters.

“Today, these eight election deniers have chosen to join forces with antisemite Andrew Torba in support of another election denier — the most extreme candidate for governor in Pennsylvania history,” Will Simons, a Shapiro campaign spokesman, said. “While Josh Shapiro is building a broad coalition of support from Republicans, Democrats and independents all across the commonwealth, Mastriano is standing with antisemitic extremists and politicians who voted to overthrow Pennsylvanians’ votes. This is yet another reminder that Mastriano is out of touch and far too extreme to be Pennsylvania’s governor.”