feature story
Josh Shapiro
Versus Doug Mastriano
WILL THE JEWISH DEMOCRAT BECOME
PENNSYLVANIA’S NEXT GOVERNOR?
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JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
ccording to the polls, Josh Shapiro should
win the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race
going away.

Th e Jewish Democrat leads Republican opponent
Doug Mastriano by an average of more than 10
points. As FiveTh irtyEight’s aggregation tool shows,
recent polls from Suff olk University, Emerson College
and others got the same result: Shapiro is ahead by
between 10 and 15 percentage points.

But “according to the polls” has become a loaded
phrase in American politics in recent years. Before
2016, it usually meant what the numbers showed: a
victory for the candidate who was ahead. But then in
2016, Donald Trump defi ed consistent defi cits to stun
Hillary Clinton and become president of the United
States. Four years later, Trump nearly did the same
thing against his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Perhaps the fastest-rising star in American politics
right now, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, won his guber-
natorial race in 2018 aft er trailing in the polls. In the
most high-profi le race of the 2021 election season,
Virginia Republican Glenn Youngkin did the same.

And in that same off -year season, just over the bridge
in New Jersey, Republican Jack Ciattarelli nearly
upset incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy. Th e Democrat
led by double digits in the polls in late October but
only won by 3.2%.

So, should Josh Shapiro trust the polls?
Probably not.

But does that mean he is going to lose in a shocking
upset to a man who, as a state senator, tried to over-
turn Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania in 2020?
Not necessarily.

Th e Jewish Exponent spent a day with both cam-
paigns to take the pulse of the race. As you should
expect by now in American politics, the reality is far
more complicated than the numbers show.

Why Shapiro Shouldn’t Trust the Polls
It’s a rainy Saturday morning in early October.

Outside of a Phoenixville fi re hall, the parking
lot is almost full. Stickers on the back of one car
say, “Doug Mastriano Governor” and “Socialism
Destroys Nations.” Another car’s front license plate
reads, “One Nation Under God.”
Inside before the meet-and-greet with the
Republican candidate, seats are fi lling up fast. Th ey
come from Chester County, the Philadelphia region’s
westernmost territory, and the surrounding area.

Many say they love Trump, who endorsed
Mastriano before the Republican primary; many
others say that they are conservative voters sup-
porting the Republican candidate; and still many
others blame the Democrats, who hold power in the
Pennsylvania governor’s mansion (Tom Wolf) and in
Washington, D.C., for rising crime in communities
and prices at gas stations and grocery stores.

Not a single person said they were there to see
Mastriano the candidate, the man, the politician.

(He’s a fi rst-term senator in the Pennsylvania General
Assembly.) “Th ey are screwing our state,” said Alan Walter, a
Chester Springs resident, of the Democrats.

When asked in what ways Democrats were “screw-
ing” the Keystone State, Walter laughed. But then
he said, “Well, I don’t even feel safe going down to
Philadelphia.” Th ough they may not be drawn to Mastriano the
man, supporters kept walking in, eventually fi lling
hundreds of seats. Campaign volunteers later esti-
mated that about 600 people attended, though the
real number was probably between 300 and 500.

Nonetheless, according to volunteers, the planned
meet-and-greet transformed into a rally.

When Mastriano walked through the back door
with his wife Rebbie, they proceeded to a podium
that was already set up. Th e candidate spoke for
more than 30 minutes, handing the microphone off
to other speakers at various points throughout his
remarks. Mastriano has been described by the mainstream
media as extreme, and it’s not an unfair description.

Mastriano said three years ago that women should
be charged with murder for getting abortions. He
organized buses for the Jan. 6, 2021 protest against
the election result that turned into a storming of the
Capitol Building in D.C. Earlier in the campaign,
he joined a social media site, Gab, known as a safe
haven for antisemites and white nationalists. While
Mastriano did not say anything antisemitic on the
site, he did pay Gab and its founder, Andrew Torba, a
$5,000 consulting fee.

During his speech in Phoenixville, the candidate
doesn’t back down from any of those positions.

He also brings up a right-wing media opportunist,
Norristown native Jack Posobiec, who has more than
a million Twitter followers, to off er rambling remarks
to the crowd about how dangerous Philadelphia is
these days, among other topics. (Th ey mostly yawn
and tune him out.)
At the same time, it is not any of these positions
that Mastriano emphasizes in his speech. Instead,
he leads with the issues that seem to be defi ning this
campaign. He also ties them to a Democrat who is in
power: his opponent, Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attor-
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