In sharp contrast to his recent fiery demeanor on the campaign trail, Republican Doug Mastriano on Tuesday night in a subdued tone assured supporters that he was not done fighting for the governor’s office, even as many news and polling outlets called the race for his Democratic challenger, Josh Shapiro.
The Franklin County state representative, who minted a gubernatorial campaign based on 2020 election denial and far-right Christian nationalism rhetoric, told a ballroom packed with supporters at the Penn Harrison Hotel in Camp Hill that it was time to wait for full election results.
“There’s about 30% of vote to go,” Mastriano said. “We got a ways to go. Have faith.”
Mastriano signaled he would accept the election results.
“We will respect that,” he said. ‘We are going to stand in faith until every vote is counted.”
Mastriano, who addressed the crowd of supporters twice during the night, called his campaign a “people’s movement.”
“What a wild ride it has been,” Mastriano said to a crowd that, for a hotly contested race, lacked energy all night. “It’s going to be fantastic.”
In one of the most closely watched governor’s races of the midterm election, Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s two-term attorney general, was poised to skate by Mastriano.
The Democratic career politician struck a centrist position throughout his campaign, securing a consistent lead over Mastriano, at times leading by double digits.
Official election results in Pennsylvania may not be known for days or weeks as election officials by law only began processing absentee and mail-in ballots on Election Day.
The 58-year-old retired Army colonel was joined on stage by his wife of 35 years, Rebbie Mastriano, and Mastriano’s running mate, state Rep. Carrie Lewis DelRosso, who sought the office of lieutenant governor.
DelRosso ealier in the evening had urged the crowd that it was time to wait, and have fun and faith.
“Remember when we wake up tomorrow morning we are going to have Gov. Mastriano,” DelRosso said to a loud round of applause from the crowd.
DelRosso told supporters that they needed to continue to wait for official results.
“This is the time where we have to pay attention and wait,” she said. “And you know...I ‘m an impatient Italian girl from Scranton. We gotta hunker down. We gotta wait it out.”
Rebbie Mastriano urged the crowd to stand together, calling them to prayer.
“God has a plan and we want to be part of that plan,” she said.
Rebbie Mastriano then called on supporters to pray and ask the Lord to intervene.
“We have come and unified and glorified you Lord,” she said. “As we wait, we don’t just sit and wait but we wait in expectation. We commit this to you in Jesus’s name.”
Mastriano, who at the start of the Election Night watch party, was greeted with approval from his crowd of supporters, called his candidacy a “people’s movement” that had been worth the fight.
“This movement is unstoppable,” he said.
Calling Pennsylvania a “holy experiment,” something he reiterated on the campaign trail, Mastriano invoked the memorable words spoken by Todd Beamer on 9/11 as he and other passengers tried to take back United Flight 93 from hijackers over western Pennsylvania.
“Let’s roll Pa. let’s take this fight,” Mastriano told his supporters.
DelRosso said she had visited nine counties on Tuesday and was encouraged by what she saw.
“In all those nine counties what I saw was turnout was double and tripled,” she said. “You know what that means red wave everybody.”
The Mastriano Election Day watch party was punctuated with evangelical prayer and Christian music.
A pastor, who the campaign identified as simply Pastor Scott, led the crowd in prayer, thanking God, he said, “for this special night.”
Scott said Pennsylvania had “endured some tough years”, but thanked God for raising up “great leaders” like Mastriano, who in the days of lockdowns stood up against unconstitutional overreach, he said.
Scott called Mastriano a “great man of integrity, humility and honor.”
A Christian rock band played a set of uplifting religious music, which at times got the crowd mildly engaged waving their arms up in the air. Each song dealt with faith, miracles, the Bible and Jesus.
Mastriano in recent months appeared with former President Donald Trump at rallies, and perpetuated the former president’s assertion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him and that elections are deeply flawed.
Mastriano was a key player in the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and was photographed at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Mastriano had vowed to decertify all 8.7 million Pennsylvania registered voters, requiring them to re-register, and repeal the state’s vote-by-mail law.
Mastriano was dogged by his associations with conspiracy theorists and extremists, including that of Gab, an online haven for white nationalists, to which the Republican paid $5,000 for “campaign consulting” earlier this year.
Mastriano has repeatedly asserted that he is not anti-semitic.
On Tuesday night, the crowd of supporters lauded Mastriano for his conservative agenda, much of it framed by his Christian fundamentalist ideals.
“He believes in education, school choice and improving failing schools,” said Sheila Perez-Smith, who was attending as part of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Pennsylvania, a chapter of one of the largest Hispanic conservative organizations in the country.
“We are a pro-life people. We are pro-family. And so is he,” she said. “And he is for safe streets and keeping kids safe.”
Perez-Smith predicted a victory for Mastriano.
“They are going to be floored and shocked when the election results come out,” she said.
Carol Gruber, a Mastriano supporter from Mifflin County, also predicted a favorable outcome for the Republican candidate.
“We are going to win but it’s going to be close. But we are going to win,” she said.
Gruber said Mastriano’s platform on crime, education and the economy earned him her vote.
Her friend, Phillis Lyter, said she was confident her candidate would win.
“We have a higher power,” she said. “God is blessing us with Doug. He is a Christian and a conservative. He is for the people. He can make things better in Pennsylvania.”
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