The 2022 vote: Governor’s race and Democracy on the ballot

It’s not often that a state senator becomes nationally prominent in a single major political issue, let alone two. But after his national leadership of the movement to make sure the pandemic killed as many people as possible, Mastriano followed up by becoming the state’s most prominent purveyor of Trump’s efforts to discredit the results of the 2020 presidential election and cast doubt over the credibility of Pennsylvania’s voting systems. He spearheaded a controversial hearing in Gettysburg in the weeks after the November 2020 election that fueled Trump’s misinformation campaign that the election was rigged. He sponsored a resolution shortly after the 2020 election that proposed giving the GOP-controlled legislature the power to designate its own slate of presidential electors and was the driving force behind a push for a so-called “forensic audit” of the 2020 election.

The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection subpoenaed Mastriano earlier this year seeking documents related to the Trump campaign’s efforts to name an alternate slate of electors in Pennsylvania.

He has shown his friendship for white supremacists and insurrectionists since at least July 4, 2020, when he spent much of the afternoon mingling with the Star Wars bar scene that took over Gettysburg National Military Park, supposedly here to defend Confederate monuments from a non-existent threat. He actively recruited busloads of people to go to the January 6 rally and is known to have at least been on the Capitol grounds – though he does say that he went back to the us when things got violent and didn’t go in the Capitol.

But it’s not just a matter of what he did; it’s also a matter of how he promises to govern. Mastriano has promised that he will appoint an election-denying secretary of state. This would effectively end democratic elections in Pennsylvania; no Dem presidential candidate would have a chance of carrying the state. He has called for replacement of all voting machines, an end to mail-in ballots, and a requirement for every Pennsylvania voter to re-register, an action that would cost millions and again deny voting rights to the young, the old, and the poor

At the same time Mastriano began his efforts to destroy democracy, Shapiro’s Office of Attorney General was fulfilling his oath played a key role in defending the state in the months after the November 2020 election, when former President Donald Trump and his allies filed an onslaught of lawsuits seeking to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results. The choice could not be clearer.

This series is written to promote political discussion and organizing. Permission is given to use this in fact sheets, talking points, letters to the editor, etc. We’d appreciate if you notified Gettysburg DFA (leonsreed@gmail.com) of any uses.