Republican Doug Mastriano, the far-right-wing Adams County state senator who lost the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race by a whopping 15 percentage points to Democrat Josh Shapiro last year, taking down-ballot competitive seats for the GOP with him, told 20 attendees at a Lebanon County event he will make a big announcement next week about his political future.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Mastriano said his announcement about whether he will be running in the 2024 GOP primary for U.S. Senate next spring to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey will be “crazy good news.”
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He teased the possibility in front of an audience of 20 people.
Mastriano called himself at the "Free the People" event a "once in a lifetime" candidate for the U.S. Senate seat. But one former Republican supporter, who soured on him last cycle after he spent the entire campaign pushing a strident culture war stance, quipped, “No. He is a twice-in-[a]-lifetime candidate to lose statewide in Pennsylvania again.”
Casey announced in March he will seek reelection for a fourth term next year. Casey spent much of last year campaigning for then-candidate John Fetterman for the U.S. Senate seat left open by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey.
West Point graduate and Republican businessman David McCormick is widely seen as a potent challenger to Casey if he decides to jump in. Since narrowly losing the GOP primary race last year to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Washington County native has spent the past few months traveling the 67 counties of the state and engaging with the grassroots.
Mastriano told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his “teams” were alive and well in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, but Republican voters interviewed across the state who voted for him last time said they were not interested in a “repeat for a defeat” from candidate Mastriano.
In April, Franklin and Marshall College released a poll showing McCormick a much more formidable candidate than Mastriano in a general election against Casey. The poll also showed Casey’s approval rating at a weak 29%, down from the 43% he had just before his reelection in 2018.
Everything in 2024 hinges on Pennsylvania, said G. Terry Madonna, Millersville College political science professor. “The majority in the U.S. Senate and the presidency, both parties have to have their best candidates out there to win both of those races.”
Allegheny County Republican Party Chairman Sam DeMarco has words for Mastriano if he decides to jump in: “If he runs, he has proven to be the most delusional person to run for office in the history of Pennsylvania; we are just six months out from him running the worst statewide race, and he thinks his reward for that is the party’s support; he is just delusional.”
“Was he not satisfied enough to cost the conservative movement the governor's seat, the state house majority, and competitive congressional seats?” DeMarco asked. “Is he now looking for the trifecta of defeat next year? Because that is what a Mastriano candidacy means.”
DeMarco said Mastriano is set to make his big announcement this Thursday.