{"id":1561579,"date":"2022-07-19T17:04:15","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T21:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1561579"},"modified":"2022-07-19T17:04:24","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T21:04:24","slug":"pennsylvanias-dem-governor-candidate-propped-up-his-own-rival-now-republicans-think-he-could-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvanias-dem-governor-candidate-propped-up-his-own-rival-now-republicans-think-he-could-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania\u2019s Dem Governor Candidate Propped Up His Own Rival. Now, Republicans Think He Could Win."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpennsylvanias-dem-governor-candidate-propped-up-his-own-rival-now-republicans-think-he-could-win%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1561579&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/pennsylvania\">Pennsylvania<\/a> Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the commonwealth\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, purposefully helped State Sen. Doug Mastriano, his Republican rival, win his primary race. Now, many Republican operatives in the state believe there\u2019s a chance the move could backfire in the general <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/2022-midterms\">election<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the days before the Pennsylvania primary, Shapiro financed advertisements that depicted Mastriano as \u201cahead in the polls,\u201d the author of Pennsylvania\u2019s heartbeat bill, a leader in the \u201cfight to audit the 2020 election,\u201d and \u201cone of Donald Trump\u2019s strongest supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PAPol?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PAPol<\/a>: \u201cIf Mastriano wins, it\u2019s a win for what Donald Trump stands for.\u201d Here is Josh Shapiro\u2019s (D) new ad in the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PAGov?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PAGov<\/a> race. So far, his campaign has spent $3.76M ahead of the 5\/17 Primary. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PG6iDgvyTN\">https:\/\/t.co\/PG6iDgvyTN<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/n0w6wrMhBd\">pic.twitter.com\/n0w6wrMhBd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdImpact_Pol\/status\/1522622327317569536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mastriano decisively won his primary race in May, but he lags behind Shapiro in the general election, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2022\/governor\/pa\/pennsylvania_governor_mastriano_vs_shapiro-7696.html\">according<\/a> to recent polls. However, as consumers continue to face cost pressures and as President Joe Biden remains highly unpopular, political operatives in Pennsylvania think Mastriano could have a shot at victory in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe higher the gas prices go, the more electable Mastriano is,\u201d Jackie Kulback, the chair of the Cambria County Republican Party who initially had reservations about the candidate\u2019s chances, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/07\/19\/mastriano-pennsylvania-governor-race-00046423?fbclid=IwAR28rWJ7MYoV0gAi6PerFwILxYxjm-Q9AdMjDxcB7FKHJ193f-Y1eYavE4Y\">Politico<\/a>. \u201cHonestly, I feel this is Mastriano\u2019s campaign to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One USA Today Network and Suffolk University poll <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/early-midterm-poll-has-dire-news-for-pennsylvania-republicans\">released<\/a> in June showed that Pennsylvanians disapprove of President Biden by a 54% to 39% margin, with more than half of voters saying they \u201cwant their vote in November to change the direction in which Biden is leading the nation.\u201d With respect to the economy, 48% of Pennsylvanians said that their standard of living is worse, while 17% said it is better \u2014 a significant reversal from 31% reporting better conditions and 17% reporting worse in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost people are in a little bubble, where they talk to one other and say, \u2018Boy, there\u2019s no way Doug Mastriano can beat Josh Shapiro.\u2019 Well, you know what? Those people don\u2019t get off the turnpike,\u201d public affairs consultant and Shapiro supporter Larry Ceisler told Politico, referring to the highway that crosses Pennsylvania. \u201cIt wakes some people as to: It\u2019s a real campaign, and yes, there really are people who are for Doug Mastriano, and this is not going to be a walk in the park.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite working to select Mastriano as his opponent, Shapiro has been highly critical of his rival.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am someone who has stood up for law enforcement. I am someone who has stood up for the rule of law, and he has been the exact opposite. He is dangerous,\u201d Shapiro told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/pittsburgh\/news\/democrat-josh-shapiro-calls-republican-doug-mastriano-dangerous\/\">KDKA<\/a>. \u201cHe is destructive, and I would argue just for the fact that he was there on January 6 and sided with the insurrectionists over law enforcement, he is unfit to be the governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania is poised to be among the most closely watched states in the midterm elections. With the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Pennsylvania \u2014 which has a Republican-led legislature \u2014 is likely to debate bills related to abortion following the midterms.<\/p>\n<p>Senate candidates Dr. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/dr-oz\">Mehmet Oz<\/a> and Lt. Governor John Fetterman are likewise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/oz-fetterman-fill-their-war-chests-for-key-senate-race\">preparing<\/a> for a competitive contest in November. Oz, a celebrity cardiologist and Republican nominee, raised $15.2 million between March 17 and June 30, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/candidate\/S2PA00638\/\">filings<\/a> with the U.S. Federal Elections Commission. Though Fetterman, the commonwealth\u2019s Democratic nominee, has not yet reported his second quarter fundraising to the agency, he has raised $11 million between April and June, his campaign told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/news\/politics-state\/2022\/07\/12\/john-fetterman-11-million-campaign-contribution-pennsylvania-senate-race-democrat-mehmet-oz\/stories\/202207120071\">Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the commonwealth\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, purposefully helped State Sen. Doug Mastriano, his Republican rival, win his primary race. Now, many Republican operatives in the state believe there\u2019s a chance the move could backfire in the general election. In the days before the Pennsylvania primary, Shapiro financed advertisements that depicted Mastriano &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1574535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1561579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1561579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1561579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1561579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1561579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}