Shapiro promised to support termination rights, betterment the state’s currency bail strategy — which helium said disproportionately affected radical with debased incomes — and boost acquisition funding. Despite often being dubbed by the media arsenic a mean oregon constitution Democrat, Shapiro said helium identified arsenic a “populist” due to the fact that “every day, I enactment radical earlier almighty institutions.”
As lawyer general, Shapiro fought against erstwhile President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 statesmanlike election. In contrast, Mastriano had often repeated Trump’s mendacious elector fraud claims and pledged to marque each Pennsylvanians re-register to ballot if helium won the gubernatorial race.
In 2018, Shapiro made planetary headlines erstwhile helium released a expansive assemblage study that revealed the Catholic Church had hidden the intersexual maltreatment of much than 1,000 children. In a caller interview with POLITICO, helium described that clip arsenic particularly hard for him arsenic a “person of faith.”
Religion often became a run notation successful the race. Shapiro, a Conservative Jew from the Philly suburbs, embraced his Judaism to link with spiritual Pennsylvanians of each faiths. In summation to visiting churches, helium consistently utilized his ads erstwhile framing his Republican hostile arsenic excessively extreme.
Mastriano has been an ardent protagonist of Trump and attended the Jan. 6 rally astatine the U.S. Capitol. He has since quarreled with the House committee investigating the events starring up to that day.
The themes Mastriano incorporated into his campaign mostly contrasted with Shapiro’s — from supporting termination bans without exceptions to vowing to halt “no-excuse” message voting that allows voters to petition a mail-in ballot without archetypal needing to supply an explanation.
Shapiro released ads for months specifically calling retired Mastriano’s polarizing views. The Republican campaigner was besides criticized for his relation with Andrew Torba, the co-founder of the far-right societal media level Gab whose antisemitic remarks and relation with Christian nationalism grabbed headlines. Mastriano himself besides has been accused of utilizing antisemitic tropes, astatine 1 constituent portraying Shapiro arsenic retired of touch with mundane Pennsylvanians due to the fact that helium attended “one of the astir privileged schools successful the nation,” a Jewish backstage school.
Shapiro fueled this into his campaign, easy raising acold much funds than Mastriano. He besides was expected to person spent a full of $35 million done the predetermination rhythm portion Mastriano was projected to walk little than $200,000.
Shapiro’s triumph did not travel arsenic a astonishment to pundits connected either broadside of the aisle. Polls little than 2 weeks earlier Election Day had Shapiro successful the lead, with 1 survey showing 13 percent of voters arsenic undecided.
When Mastriano yet released an ad successful aboriginal October, it focused connected his clip successful the Army alternatively than connected however Pennsylvania would fare successful his opponent’s hands.