Pennsylvania Republican officials who endorsed Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro for governor deserve praise for putting duty, honor, and country before party.
This is a pivotal point in American history when the future of our democracy is at risk. This is no time to toe to the party line or be silent. Not when the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Doug Mastriano, enabled the seditionists who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt by repeating falsehoods about the 2020 election and chartering a bus to Washington on the day of the insurrection.
Nine GOP luminaries from across the state accurately described Mastriano as “dangerous,” “divisive,” and “extreme.” They should be applauded for getting on the right side of history.
So, kudos to former Congress members Charlie Dent and Jim Greenwood, former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, former Lt. Gov. Robert Jubelirer, former Pennsylvania House Speaker Denny O’Brien, former state House members Dave Steil and Lisa Cohen, former Montgomery County GOP Chairman Ken Davis, and Lawrence County Board of Commissioners Chairman Morgan Boyd.
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It is not easy for public officials who have devoted their life and livelihoods to one political party to break ranks. While most of the GOP officials who endorsed Shapiro are no longer in office, their decision could prompt colleagues, friends, and family to turn against them.
In these politically charged times, Republicans who have stood up to Donald Trump’s lies have risked losing their jobs and some have even faced death threats. The 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for instigating the Jan. 6 riots either decided not to run for reelection or faced a primary challenge.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of two Republicans serving on the congressional select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, has released an audio compilation of the profanity-laced threats he and his family have received.
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the other Republican on the Jan. 6 committee, has been ostracized by her party and faces a primary challenger. Some deep-pocketed liberal donors who have put aside policy differences to support Cheney should also be applauded.
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Seth Klarman, a billionaire hedge fund manager and a political independent who favors abortion access, gun control, and expanded voting access, told the New York Times why he is supporting Cheney: “If we don’t save democracy, everything else goes to hell.”
That’s also true for the Pennsylvania governor’s race, where Mastriano is a threat on several levels. In addition to having marched with the insurrectionists who ransacked the Capitol leading to at least seven deaths, Mastriano spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds to bus supporters to the mob event.
The ways that Mastriano has demonstrated his unfitness for office abound. He spoke at a rally hosted by QAnon conspiracy theorists, he has spread dangerous lies about the 2020 election being stolen, and he boasts that if elected governor he could control the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania.
Mastriano’s positions are far beyond the mainstream: He has promised to ban all abortions in the state, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. He opposes gay marriage and likened gun safety measures to Nazi policies.
“I can’t call him a Republican,” said Jubelirer, the former lieutenant governor.
There have been glimmers that other Republicans recognize the clear and present danger Trump and imitators like Mastriano pose. One rioter during the attack on the Capitol apologized last week to police officers who protected the building. Trump’s former campaign manager expressed regret after Jan. 6 for helping to get Trump elected in 2016 but quickly switched back to supporting him. A recent poll shows about half of Republicans don’t want Trump to run for president again.
Under Trump, the GOP has lost its way. Electing an insurrectionist like Mastriano governor of Pennsylvania would bring the Trumpian circus to Harrisburg and likely spur more election chaos. It’s time for more conscientious Republicans to stand up and put their country above their party before it’s too late.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer/ TNS
