A group of prominent Pennsylvania Republicans broke ranks with their party this week to endorse Democrat Josh Shapiro in his gubernatorial bid over their party’s nominee, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who many fear is too extreme to win independent and mainstream Republican support in November’s election.
Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, rolled out endorsements from former Reps. Charlie Dent and Jim Greenwood, ex-Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman Ken Davis, and one-time state Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman. Also endorsing Shapiro over Mastriano were former Lt. Gov. Robert Jubelirer, ex-state House Speaker Dennis O’Brien, Lawrence County Commission Chairman Morgan Boyd, and a pair of former state representatives, Dave Steil and Lita Cohen.
The group constitutes a notable fracture among Republicans, with prominent elected officials and political operatives encouraging voters to split their tickets to back Shapiro but support Republicans in other races, including the Republican Senate nominee, television personality Dr. Oz.
Craig Snyder, a former chief of staff to the late Sen. Arlen Specter, who will run the political operation for the group Republicans for Shapiro, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that “Mastriano is unacceptable.”
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