Doug Mastriano to Newsmax: Biggest Upset Coming in PA Governor Race Doug Mastriano (Getty Images)
By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 01 November 2022 10:47 AM EDT
Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the state's GOP nominee for governor, said Tuesday on Newsmax he is looking forward to pulling off "one of the biggest upsets" in the state next week by defeating his Democrat challenger, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, to win the neck-and-neck governor's race.
"The latest polls have us in a statistical dead heat, and although we're being outspent, we're just outworking the other side, which is fantastic," Mastriano said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," but he also lambasted Shapiro for refusing to debate with him.
He noted the debate in the U.S. Senate race between Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and his Democrat opponent, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, completely changed the environment for that election because of Fetterman's apparent difficulties after having suffered a stroke earlier this year.
"That debate performance was absolutely superb," Mastriano said of Oz. "This is why I'm a bit frustrated that my opponent has absolutely refused to debate me because I'll make him look worse than John Fetterman. I'd smoke him like a cheap cigar. But he's a chicken. He won't go on the stage with me because he's terrified that that's going to happen to him, too."
Mastriano said that the governor's race will likely come down to undecided and independent voters, "and we're reaching them, talking about 'kitchen table' topics, law and order and crime, and specifically what I'm going to do about."
And while there is a lot of "background noise" about the Oz-Fetterman election, Mastriano said, the gubernatorial election has a more direct bearing on his state.
"There's nothing a federal senator can do about crime and the economy in Pennsylvania," said Mastriano. "I'm talking about that, talking about school choice, talking about inflation, and how I'm going to have an economic renaissance in our state by unleashing our energy sector. The last we checked, independents are breaking for me, you know, by six or seven to one."
Mastriano further on Tuesday called claims from the left on his being an "election denier" concerning the 2020 presidential race "ridiculous."
"I'm a senator, and under the U.S. and state constitutions, as a legislator, I have oversight on the matter of conduct of elections," he said. "It's my job to ask questions, and simply asking questions about an election makes you intellectually curious. It doesn't make you an election denier. I mean, these people are so ridiculous on the left … no, we just want to have answers. People across the state have questions. We want to make things better and more secure."
Mastriano, though, said he doesn't think such claims have hurt him among his voting base, as most are talking about crime, the economy, and other topics beyond election integrity.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama will be in Pennsylvania this weekend to hold last-minute election rallies, as will be former President Donald Trump, and Mastriano said the Biden-Obama appearance will hurt Democrats because they will remind voters "of the dark times."
"Obama is tied to Biden who was his vice president for eight years, and Obama worked hard to get 'Sleepy Joe' in," he said. "You'll see 10,000 or 20,000 people at our rally outside of Pittsburgh, and you'll see maybe 100 or less over, you know, attending Biden's or Obama's rallies when they come into town. It does not help them at all, because everything is falling apart under this current administration."
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