The Republican candidates for Governor have spent months putting their extreme agenda ahead of Pennsylvania workers — and no matter who wins the primary, they all would be bad for Pennsylvania.
PENNSYLVANIA — The GOP candidates for Governor have put far-right litmus tests — like restricting the right to vote and outlawing abortion — ahead of Pennsylvania workers and growing the economy. No matter who wins the primary, the Republican nominee is set to center their campaign on conspiracy theories and abortion bans rather than what matters to Pennsylvanians.
“Whoever the Republicans’ nominee for Governor is will be an extreme and out-of-touch politician hellbent on attacking PA workers and making our communities less safe — because that’s what they’ve all said,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesperson Marisa Nahem. “Pennsylvanians have watched the GOP candidates race to the far-right to earn the support of the fringe for months, and it’s clear that the Republican nominee will put their extreme agenda ahead of Pennsylvania families.”
The frontrunners in the GOP PA-Gov field oppose President Biden’s Bipartisan infrastructure law, which will help provide vital funding to fix our crumbling infrastructure and create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs here in Pennsylvania. But those attacks on workers are just the beginning:
Doug Mastriano, the GOP primary frontrunner, supports a devastating anti-worker agenda. Mastriano has openly opposed raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, was one of only seven lawmakers who voted against raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, and cosponsored a bill to gut prevailing wages that ensure fair pay for the workers who build our roads, schools and other public projects. In a GOP debate, Mastriano also stated that he was “a supporter” of turning Pennsylvania into a right to work state.
As the former Mayor of Hazleton, Lou Barletta led the city to financial ruin, raising property taxes on families by 70%, and mismanaging finances so badly that the city nearly went bankrupt. In his time as the city’s chief executive, he not only failed to manage the city’s finances, he also failed to keep the community safe, undermining local law enforcement by cutting police officers as crime surged. Barletta even bragged about throwing out contracts that protected workers and setting a single day record for the number of anti-union grievances filed against him — the four unions representing city workers even filed “a record number” of grievances against him and his administration.
24-year career politician Dave White also has plans to hurt PA workers, despite his best efforts to pull the wool over Pennsylvanians’ eyes. During a meeting with an extremist anti-government group, White said if elected, he would “sign a paycheck protection bill into law,” which would undermine the ability of workers to organize and fight for better pay and benefits.
Trump’s former U.S. Attorney and current “anti-endorsee,” Bill McSwain, is woefully out-of-touch. McSwain said that he “would definitely consider” making Pennsylvania a so-called right-to-work state and “that right to work has been a good thing in a lot of other states,” despite right-to-work laws leading to lower wages for workers and it being less likely that workers would have employer-sponsored benefits like health care.
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