PA-Gov: Republican Doug Mastriano still has not so much as reserved any ad time for the general election, and he’s made it painfully clear just how abandoned he feels by his party. The QAnon ally recently recorded a Facebook live video where, as the Philadelphia Inquirer puts it, “he looked more dejected than we’ve ever seen him.” Mastriano sounded even worse, musing, “Really not finding a lot of support from the national-level Republican organizations.”
That’s an understatement if anything because, according to AdImpact, the only outside support he’s received at all has been the $7.8 million that Commonwealth Leaders Fund, a group funded by local conservative billionaire Jeff Yass, began spending against Democrat Josh Shapiro back in late July. Shapiro, by contrast, has dropped $32 million in the general election, while his allies at the DGA affiliate Put Pennsylvania First spent another $3.5 million earlier in the year.
Mastriano would very much like it if the Republican Governors Association backed him up, but while RGA chair Doug Ducey said earlier this month that he still sees this race as a “pickup opportunity,” the Arizona governor still sounded wary about getting involved. “So we’re in a relationship with our candidate, but we’re saying to the candidates, you have to show us something,” Ducey said, adding, “You have to demonstrate that you can move numbers. That you can raise resources.”
Mastriano tried to raise resources just before he made that mournful Facebook video by appearing on a podcast hosted by his fellow far-right extremist Steve Bannon. The nominee implored listeners to open their wallets because if he won, “I get to appoint the secretary of state.” He added, “Americans, wherever you live in the world, if you’re an American citizen, you can donate to my campaign.”
One of Mastriano’s allies, though, is trying a different approach to try and get the RGA involved. Jenna Ellis, the notorious 2020 election denier who now serves as Mastriano’s legal advisor, on Tuesday posted the RGA’s email address and the number for its general counsel on Twitter and wrote, “The Republican Governors Association would rather see an insane extremist Democrat win in Pennsylvania than have a Republican they can’t control. Doug Mastriano’s race is MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER for freedom from BOTH SIDES!!”
Ellis also used that tweet to implore or followers to “tell them DOUG FOR GOV!!” but we don’t know how many of them did before she deleted it.