Doug Mastriano, a leading Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor, is also a leading election denier.
His supporters love him for it, but critics say his base of supporters won’t help him carry the suburban and urban voters he will need to win a general election against Democrat Josh Shapiro.
Mastriano leads GOP candidates among rural voters who are typically in the 50-64 age range, according to polls, but former Congressman Lou Barletta leads in all other age groups and among suburban and urban voters.
The margin between Mastriano and Barletta is razor thin, according to the latest poll from Emerson College and The Hill.
One of the biggest ways Mastriano stands out is with the unproven election fraud claims he has pushed for 16 months.
The state senator held a campaign event in Gettysburg last month and called it a “voter integrity conference,” where attendees signed a petition upon entering the venue that would decertify Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results.
Steve Bannon spoke to the crowd virtually and made false claims that Pennsylvania’s election was unconstitutional and “stolen.”
Long before Mastriano launched his bid for higher office, he repeated unproven claims about the 2020 presidential election and held an investigatory hearing without sworn testimony.
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