May 14, 2022- 7:38 a.m.
Former President Trump is leaning strongly toward endorsing highly controversial Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano for governor, according to three sources familiar with his private deliberations.
Why it matters: Mastriano — who was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 — has gone beyond trying to help Trump overturn the 2020 election. He’s proposed defying Pennsylvania’s popular vote outcome and spoke at an event last month.
What we’re watching: Democrats are salivating because they see him as beatable in a general election even in a political environment that’s extremely favorable to Republicans. Leading Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro even ran an ad highlighting Mastriano in the primary contest.
- With time running out before Tuesday’s primaries, Republicans are panicking about the prospect of such a polarizing candidate with limited appeal leading the ticket and are mounting a last-ditch effort to stop him.
- Others in the Republican gubernatorial contest include former Rep. Lou Barletta, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain and businessman Dave White.
Between the lines: Trump is worried about his endorsed Senate candidate Dr. Oz losing, according to two sources familiar with the situation, so his endorsement of Mastriano could be a way of hedging his bets on Tuesday.
- Republicans are also belatedly panicking over the previously unimaginable prospect that Kathy Barnette could win their party’s nomination for the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, as Axios reported.
