Shapiro outspending Mastriano
Democrat puts up 27-1 margin during gubernatorial campaign
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro outspent his GOP opponent state Sen. Doug Mastriano by more than 27 to 1, spending more than $27 million over the past four months.
Mr. Mastriano raised $3.17 million since June and spent just under $1 million, leaving him with about $2.6 million in his campaign coffer.
Mr. Shapiro, the state’s attorney general, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Because of this, Mr. Shapiro was able to amass a war chest of nearly $16 million before the May primary election. He continued to show strong fundraising this quarter, raising more than $25 million since June.
Mr. Mastriano’s campaign finance report showed he has fundraised the most so far, outpacing his last report for one month of fundraising in May, said Kristin
Kanthak, a political science professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Still, Tuesday’s report shows he is “way, way behind” Mr. Shapiro, she added.
Mr. Mastriano reported hundreds of individual donations, including dozens under $50. In Pennsylvania, candidates do not need to report campaign contributions under the $50 threshold.
Ms. Kanthak said reporting these small-dollar donations was intentional to show the enthusiasm within his grassroots campaign. Mr. Mastriano has grown a following on social media and conservative media outlets, which has garnered national interest that candidates hope to duplicate. Former President Donald Trump compared Mr. Mastriano’s following to that of his own staunch supporters, at a rally in Wilkes-Barre earlier this month.
In a statement, Mr. Mastriano’s
campaign highlighted this support: “Small contributions have played a key role in propelling our campaign forward, and we are proud to be funded by the people of Pennsylvania — and not the elites.”
Mr. Shapiro’s campaign released the balance sheet from his campaign finance report, but had not submitted the full report to the Department of State as of 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Jim Schultz, the top attorney in former Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration and member of former President Donald Trump’s administration, said he and other Republicans have decided to financially support Mr. Shapiro because he will work to unite Pennsylvanians and Mr. Mastriano won’t.
Few members of the General Assembly or Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation contributed to Mr. Mastriano’s campaign. Traditionally, these leaders contribute to one another’s campaigns to show their support and potentially buy favor once elected.
GOP leaders in the state House and Senate are “rightfully protecting” their seats and majorities by not getting involved in the race, Mr. Schultz said.
“Mastriano’s candidacy only serves to hurt those good Republicans who are serving their communities well,” he said.
This seems to be a continuation of what’s happening at the national level: the Republican Governors Association has no plans to put money behind Mr. Mastriano, with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey saying the GOP’s gubernatorial fundraising machine doesn’t “fund lost causes,” the New York Times reported.
But Mr. Mastriano is running “for the people, not the bureaucracy,” said Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser to Mr. Mastriano, in a statement.
“While many Republicans in Washington said that Mastriano could never win the primary, he beat his opponents with almost 45 percent of the vote without their help, and he’ll do the same in November,” Ms. Ellis said.
Ms. Ellis added that Mr. Shapiro’s donors have “ulterior motives coming in to try to control Pennsylvania’s politics and people.”
In the May primary, Mr. Mastriano garnered about 43% of the Republican vote in the May primary election. This was in spite of an eleventh-hour attempt by the GOP political establishment to rally around one of the eight other gubernatorial candidates on the ballot. Mr. Mastriano consistently led in statewide polls among the nine GOP candidates.
Now, Mr. Shapiro is consistently leading statewide polls. Mr. Shapiro leads Mr. Mastriano by about nine points — about 51% to Mr. Mastriano’s 42% — according to the RealClearPolitics average of statewide polls.
Notable donors
While Mr. Mastriano’s campaign finance filing showed hundreds of individual donors, nearly one-third of Mr. Mastriano’s fundraising came from one couple: Illinois billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein. The conservative mega-donors lead the shipping supplies giant Uline, which has a distribution center in Allentown. They have given more than $38 million to federal GOP campaigns so far this midterm election cycle, and have a history of donating to conservative candidates who oppose transgender and gay rights.
Tuesday’s finance report also showed that Mr. Mastriano accepted a $500 donation in July from Andrew Torba, the founder of social media site Gab. Gab is widely viewed as a platform used by white nationalists and other far-right extremists. The suspect in the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue attack used the site to post neoNazi propaganda and to call for violence against Jews.
Mr. Mastriano previously paid $5,000 to Gab for “consulting fees,” according to an earlier campaign finance report. As part of this payment, all new accounts on the platform would automatically follow Mr. Mastriano. Following weeks of criticism, Mr. Mastriano quietly closed his Gab account and said he rejected “anti-Semitism in any form,” according to his July 28 statement.
On July 22, Mr. Mastriano’s campaign accepted the $ 500 donation from Mr. Torba, according to his campaign finance filing.
Mr. Mastriano’s campaign declined to comment on Mr. Torba’s campaign contribution.
Mr. Shapiro’s campaign finance filing was not posted by deadline for the Post-Gazette to review his full filing.