State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) detailed a series of alleged betrayals by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania (PAGOP), the Republican Governors Association (RGA) and top Republicans in the Keystone State during his 2022 gubernatorial campaign during a Monday appearance on Outside the Beltway with host John Fredericks.
Mastriano told Fredericks that former Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler (R-Harrisburg), a former PAGOP chair and former Republican Governors Association chair Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) either withheld support or acted against his gubernatorial campaign.
Mastriano began by arguing that Cutler “didn’t lift a finger with his power” despite being “one of the most Republican figures in the state.” He added, “The previous chair of our state party attended fundraisers for the Democrat nominee, Shapiro, and gave money to his campaign.”
Public reporting indicates about a dozen high profile Pennsylvania Republicans united behind just one group to push Republicans to vote for Governor Josh Shapiro over Mastriano, including former lawmakers.
Mastriano similarly told Fredericks that millions was raised from Pennsylvania donors by the RGA after Ricketts promised the lawmaker that his campaign would receive the money. The lawmaker claims Ricketts later called him and suggested he would need reciprocal action before releasing the funding.
“You know what he said to me?” Mastriano told Fredericks, “He goes, ‘F you, Colonel. We’re not gonna help you.'”
Then serving as the Governor of Nebraska, Ricketts led the RGA in 2022.
Mastriano questioned, “You wonder why we don’t win big races in Pennsylvania?” He offered, “It’s because our own party is at war with itself. As Abraham Lincoln said, a house divided against itself can’t stand.”
He additionally argued that grassroots activists are expected to support moderate candidates despite moderates refusing to back grassroots.
“When McCain wins, when Romney wins, when a Bush wins, we’re told it’s time to unite our party and get behind the winner [as] the people have spoken,” said Mastriano. He reflected, “But when a grassroots guy wins, they walk away from us and sabotage.”
The lawmaker appeared on Fredericks’ radio and television program after the host revealed he is considering a campaign to become Pennsylvania’s Republican National Convention (RNC) Delegation Chair after securing election as delegate in a grassroots victory.
“If you’re living in Pennsylvania, and you’re part of the Pennsylvania GOP, what have they done? All we do is lose,” said Fredericks in a Friday appearance on Stephen K. Bannon’s War Room. He added, “There’s no apparatus.”
Fredericks is the publisher of The Pennsylvania Daily Star, which is owned by Star News Digital Media, Inc.
Watch Mastriano’s full appearance on Outside the Beltway:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Pennsylvania Daily Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano” by The John Fredericks Show.
