PHILADELPHIA — State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the MAGA firebrand who lost the Pennsylvania governor’s race last year by double digits, is considering running for U.S. Senate in 2024, according to an article published Tuesday in Politico.
“What do you do with a movement of 2.2 million?” he told Politico in an interview, referring to the number of people who voted for him in his unsuccessful bid against Democrat Josh Shapiro. “We’re keeping it alive.”
Mastriano said he is praying about whether to run in 2024, saying he’s looking to God and his wife, Rebbie, for counsel.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D., Pa., is widely expected to run for reelection. On the Republican side, Dave McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO who narrowly lost last year’s Senate primary to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, is weighing another campaign.
Pennsylvania and national Republican officials are unlikely to embrace a potential Mastriano bid, given his poor showing against Shapiro. Many in the GOP blame Mastriano for the Democrats’ new majority in the state House.
Mastriano said supporters have been encouraging him to run for Senate.
“Nobody with big names have come out and said, ‘Doug, you need to think about this,’” he told Politico. “Just people like you and me.”
