Doug Mastriano pleaded for money while running for governor. He didn’t even spend the last $1M.

by Andrew Seidman and Aseem Shukla
Updated Dec 14, 2022


Doug Mastriano and his allies often complained fellow Republicans were not doing enough to support his campaign for governor of Pennsylvania. Mastriano’s fund-raising struggles were so dire that in late September, a top campaign adviser, Jenna Ellis, urged her Twitter followers to call the Republican Governors Association to demand more money for his campaign against Democrat Josh Shapiro. Mastriano never did catch Shapiro in fund-raising and ended up losing the race by double digits. But in a final twist to Mastriano’s highly unconventional campaign, it turns out the Republican didn’t even spend all the money he did manage to raise.

In fact, weeks after the election, Mastriano still had more than $1 million in his campaign account left unspent, according to a fund-raising report he filed last week. That’s about 15% of the money he had available for the general election. While it is unlikely that cash would have made a difference in his long-shot bid against Shapiro — who spent a whopping $66 million compared with Mastriano’s $7 million — some Republicans are now griping that the money could have helped the party’s candidates down ballot. Pennsylvania Democrats won a majority of seats in the state House for the first time in more than a decade.

“It’s one of the most irresponsible and selfish actions I’ve seen a candidate for office at any level take,” said Mark Harris, a Pittsburgh-based Republican strategist. “The potential loss of the House rests heavily on Doug Mastriano’s decision.” Mastriano did not respond to requests for comment, and it’s unclear why he ended the campaign with so much cash on hand. His finance report last week, which covered the data as of Nov. 28, did not list any outstanding debts.

Both his fund-raising and his expenditures picked up sharply in the final month of the campaign, with half of funds raised and spent flowing in during the last month. The money came in steadily over time, not at the eleventh hour, so Mastriano could have spent more than he did. Holding on to the cash could help Mastriano retain influence going forward. Under state law, Mastriano would be able to use the extra cash for future state races and to make contributions to his allies. Mastriano was elected to a full Senate term in 2020 and will be up for reelection in 2024.

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More: https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/doug-mastriano-fundraising-pa-governor-20221214.html

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