PITTSBURGH, PA – In a campaign event earlier in August for Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, the aspiring governor was joined by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who spoke of urging voters to rally behind the Pennsylvania candidate. Prior to taking the stage, Mastriano told The Epoch Times that, given the opportunity, he’d “model” his governorship in the manner that DeSantis runs Florida.

There’s no doubting that when it comes to governors across the country, Ron DeSantis is among the most admired in terms of how he runs the Sunshine State.

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Even CNN admitted this past April that “DeSantis’ governing strategy in Florida is paying off,” despite the copious amount of “negative press” he was subjected to during the pandemic period and thereafter, with the outlet calling him “ahead of his time” when it came to his stances on vaccine and mask mandates.

Because, as it turns out, general freedoms happen to be a popular concept among those spanning the political spectrum.

With the aforementioned in mind, it’s no wonder why aspiring governors would want to take a page out of the DeSantis playbook (or the whole book, for that matter), seeing that it would be a near-guaranteed shoo-in for securing Republican and swing voters.

While speaking with The Epoch Times before an August 19th campaign event in Pittsburgh, Mastriano stated that he intends to follow the lead of DeSantis if he were to win the gubernatorial race.

“My goal is to model my leadership as governor of the state in the fashion of Ron DeSantis, where it’s for the protection and the betterment of people, and actually upholding their constitutional rights, instead of treading upon them.”

Pennsylvania is generally considered a battleground state when it comes to presidential elections, thereby meaning the gubernatorial race is just as much of a toss up. Mastriano noted that had he been the governor during the period of the pandemic, things would’ve been run far differently in the state amid that tumultuous period.

While the gubernatorial hopeful admitted that making the aforementioned claim is easy in hindsight, he pointed to his record as a state senator in terms of sponsored bills that showcased evidence that it would’ve been the case had he held the governor’s office at the time.

During his time as a state senator whilst the pandemic and lockdowns were in full swing in 2020, Mastriano would jump onto Facebook live sessions where he listened to the concerns of Pennsylvanians. At the time, Mastriano referred to the likes of mandated masking and businesses being shut down due to them being deemed “non-essential” as unconstitutional.

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Mastriano explained that had he held the governor’s office during the pandemic, he’d simply relay to the people the risks associated with the virus and let them make their own choices from there.

“We would have notified people of the threats, as delineated by the CDC and Department of Health, and then leave it up to the people themselves to decide whether to keep the mask on. We’d leave it up to the people themselves, whether to take the jab or not. We’d leave it up to the businesses, whether they wanted to remain open, and what that would look like, being open or not.”

This piece was written by Gregory Hoyt on August 20, 2022. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.

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