Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will rally for State Sen. Doug Mastriano in Pittsburgh next week
Mastriano has said he'll make Florida under DeSantis look like "amateur hour" if elected governor in Pennsylvania. DeSantis will rally for Mastriano in Pittsburgh on Aug. 19.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, has set Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a conservative standard to beat in how to run a state.
Now DeSantis, a potential 2024 rival to Donald Trump if the former president seeks the White House again, is coming to Pennsylvania next week to rally for Mastriano.
Pittsburgh will be a Friday, Aug. 19, stop on a four-state tour for DeSantis, as he continues to build his national brand stumping for like-minded culture-war Republicans in Arizona, New Mexico, and Ohio.
The “Unite and Win” tour is being funded by Turning Points Action, a conservative nonprofit founded by Charlie Kirk, who, in a statement, called Mastriano “a true champion of the grassroots in Pennsylvania.”
Mastriano has an appreciative if competitive nod to DeSantis built into his standard campaign pitch.
He told a state Republican Party meeting last month, “This state, under Gov. Mastriano, is going to turn red and we’re going to make Florida look like amateur hour, I’m here to tell you.”
At a Erie County Republican event in June, Mastriano said DeSantis “is doing a fantastic job but with Pennsylvania and Doug Mastriano as governor it’s going to be amateur hour down there.”
Mastriano, at event in April where QAnon and other conspiracy theories were pushed, vowed a resurgence for Pennsylvania. “You think Florida looks good?” he said. “That’s amateur hour after this.”
Trump endorsed Mastriano just before the May primary and DeSantis for Florida governor in 2018.
Trump defeated DeSantis 69-24 in a straw poll for the top pick for president in 2024 at the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend.
Mastriano is counting on support from both. He told a conservative radio show host in Philadelphia earlier this month that he expects Trump to “do a couple of rallies in Pennsylvania” for his campaign before the November election.
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