HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic candidate for governor has broken the state’s 2-decade-old campaign spending record as he runs against Republican Doug Mastriano. which was on track to spend less than a tenth as much.
The race between Shapiro and Mastriano could test how powerful campaign spending is in one of the nation’s highest-profile gubernatorial races. One candidate has spent more money than any other gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania, and the other has spent less than any other major-party candidate in at least the last two decades.
The money Shapiro has raised has enabled him to run television ads every day dating back to April, helping him lead in the polls since the race began. In recent days, Mastriano began running his first TV ad since winning the GOP primary in May, even as he complains that the national party is not helping him.
Mastriano still predicts victory and touts his campaign as an unmatched grassroots operation, but he also admits he’s getting into the race for donations.
“There are a lot of well-intentioned people out there who have never run for office or run a statewide campaign who have all this great advice: ‘You should do more TV ads,'” Mastriano told a conservative radio talk show host on friday. “Okay, that’s a great idea, how about donating and helping us do this?”
Still, Shapiro has outspent Mastriano 16 to 1 in the 2021-22 campaign cycle, according to campaign finance filings as of the state’s Sept. 19 reporting deadline.
Shapiro has reported $44 million in spending, including in-kind contributions, eclipsing the 2001-02 campaign spending record set by Democrat Ed Rendell of just under $42 million. He still has weeks left to add to that total.
Mastriano, on the other hand, has reported spending less than $3 million. Shapiro reported that he had $11 million still in the bank; Mastriano reported $2.6 million.
The spending imbalance is at least partly explained by Shapiro’s fundraising prowess and deep ties to party donors.
But it’s also explained by Mastriano, a political novice who has turned off core GOP donors by campaigning with far-right figures, supporting a blanket ban on abortion with no exceptions, and peddling conspiracy theories, including the lies of former – to President Donald Trump for a stolen election in 2020.
Mastriano was also outside the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021 uprising and was photographed watching demonstrators attack police before he was supposed to leave.
“It’s very clear, he’s an extremist candidate,” said Jim Schultz, a Republican campaign fundraiser, strategist and attorney who supports Shapiro. “It doesn’t surprise me that one Republican donor is supporting Josh Shapiro and two are not giving to Mastriano in any meaningful way.”
Unions have also consolidated support around Shapiro, giving him more than $8 million to take on Mastriano, who they see as an existential threat because of his support for right-to-work laws.
With just three weeks until Election Day, prospects for national GOP support for Mastriano are dimming.
Shapiro has reported receiving millions of dollars — more than $5.5 million so far — from the party’s national organization that supports gubernatorial candidates, the Democratic Governors Association.
Mastriano said Friday that he hasn’t seen a dime of aid from his GOP counterpart, a frequent bone of contention of his.
His biggest donor is Midwest shipping magnate Dick Uihlein and his wife, who are big contributors to conservative causes and gave Mastriano $1 million.
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