Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Candidate Doug Mastriano Says He Wants His State To Be Just Like DeSantis’ Florida

Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano said Friday that he will aim to make Pennsylvania “the Florida of the north.”

DeSantis is slated to campaign for Mastriano, a Trump-endorsed candidate, at Turning Point Action’s “Unite & Win” rally in the lead up to the Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial primary. Mastriano told One America News Network (OAN) that the Florida governor has “set the gold standard” for how to run a state.

“We heard from him and his team a couple weeks ago asking if we’d be interested in doing a rally in Pittsburgh and I’m like ‘are you kidding me? Heck yes’ because my goal as governor of Pennsylvania is make Pennsylvania the Florida of the north because he set the gold standard for the good a governor can do leading a state,” Mastriano said.

“My goal as governor of Pennsylvania is make Pennsylvania the Florida of the north” – @dougmastriano on @RonDeSantisFL reaching out to him to do the rally

pic.twitter.com/yb6p7BbdsG#PAGOV

— David Catanese (@davecatanese) August 19, 2022

The governor has campaigned in Arizona and New Mexico in support of Trump-backed candidates, including Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, New Mexico Rep. Yvette Herrell and gubernatorial nominee Mark Ronchetti. He is scheduled to rally in Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio in support of senate and gubernatorial hopefuls, including Mastriano and Republican Ohio senate candidate J.D. Vance. (RELATED: DeSantis Reacts To Straw Poll Showing Him Narrowly Leading Against Trump In Potential 2024 Presidential Race) 

The Florida governor has been praised by conservatives and Republican candidates due, in large part, to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and signing the Parental Rights in Education bill into law.

His popularity has led to himself and former President Donald Trump standing neck-in-neck in the voters’ first choices to be the Republican nominee in 2024. In June, DeSantis narrowly led Trump among likely New Hampshire voters in a University of New Hampshire poll, earning 39% of the vote to Trump’s 37%. The governor also led Trump in a 2022 Western Conservative Summit straw poll where he garnered 71% of support, while Trump acquired 68%.