Douglas Vincent Mastriano was born on January 2,1964 and is an American far-right politician and retired military officer who has served in the Pennsylvania Senate since 2019, representing the 33rd district.
84 Facts About Doug Mastriano
2.
Doug Mastriano ran for US Congress in Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district in 2018, where he finished fourth in the primary.
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Doug Mastriano won the state senate seat for the 33rd district the following year in a special election.
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Doug Mastriano is a prominent figure in fundamentalist Christian nationalism and has called the separation of church and state a myth.
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Doug Mastriano was subpoenaed by the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in February 2022, but he stopped cooperating with the Select Committee in August.
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Doug Mastriano was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and obtained the rank of Eagle Scout.
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Doug Mastriano then attended Mercer County Community College, where he was a member of Psi Beta and Phi Theta Kappa.
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In 1986, Doug Mastriano received a bachelor's degree in history from Eastern College.
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Doug Mastriano received a master's degree in strategic intelligence from the Joint Intelligence College in 1992.
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Doug Mastriano's education includes a master's degree in airpower theory from the Air University in 2001.
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Doug Mastriano received a master's degree in strategic studies from the United States Army War College in 2010.
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Doug Mastriano spent four years at the NATO Land Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany.
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Doug Mastriano was deployed to Iraq for Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
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Doug Mastriano then was in Washington, DC, in the 3rd Infantry Division and US Army Europe.
15.
On February 13,2018, at the Otterbein Church in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano announced his candidacy for US Representative for, a seat being vacated by the retiring congressman Bill Shuster.
16.
Less than a week after his announcement, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania redrew the congressional district map of Pennsylvania after ruling the previous map unconstitutional, and the area previously covered by the 9th district corresponds most closely to the new 13th district, so Doug Mastriano became a candidate for.
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Doug Mastriano said that Islam is not compatible with the constitution and that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be deported.
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Doug Mastriano ultimately finished fourth of the eight candidates in the primary election, receiving 10,485 votes.
19.
On January 22,2019, Doug Mastriano announced that he intended to run for the State Senate seat being vacated by Rich Alloway in the 33rd District, saying he "can't, in good conscience, stand aside", wanting to "serve his country in a new way".
20.
Mastriano has been criticized by some religious leaders and the Pennsylvania Democratic leadership for posts on his campaign's Facebook page, "Doug Mastriano Fighting for Freedom".
21.
In May 2019, during his campaign for state senate, Doug Mastriano spread Islamophobic content via several shared posts on his campaign Facebook page targeting Muslims.
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On November 3,2020, Doug Mastriano was re-elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 33rd District by 68.7 percent of the vote.
23.
Doug Mastriano opposed efforts by Governor Tom Wolf to legalize recreational cannabis.
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Doug Mastriano has said that cannabis "causes an increase in violence, mental illness and driving under the influence" and that ending the prohibition is "madness and stupid".
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In 2021, Doug Mastriano was banned from attending closed-door Republican state senate caucus meetings after he publicly shared information that was meant to be confidential.
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In October 2020, Doug Mastriano introduced Senate Bill 1321 to protect such monuments from being removed or vandalized.
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On March 17,2020, Doug Mastriano called for suspension of the HIPAA law to allow the Department of Health share more COVID-19 data, including publishing the names and addresses of those infected with the virus.
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On March 28,2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Doug Mastriano proposed legislation that would allow Pennsylvania businesses to reopen if they followed CDC mitigation guidelines, subject to health department and law enforcement inspections.
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Doug Mastriano spoke during an anti-lockdown protest held on April 20,2020, in support of reopening Pennsylvania during the state's ongoing pandemic.
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In May 2020, Doug Mastriano wrote a letter signed by other Republican state legislators and a county commissioner calling for his home county of Franklin County to move out of the "red" phase of Governor Tom Wolf's reopening plan.
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In March 2022, Doug Mastriano introduced legislation that would make it easier for Pennsylvanians who are diagnosed with COVID-19 to access dubious drug treatments such as hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and ivermectin.
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In July 2022, following a string of mass shootings, including the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Doug Mastriano introduced legislation that would arm teachers and staff inside of schools.
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Doug Mastriano was a vocal opponent of the implementation of municipal separate storm sewer systems programs as applied by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
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On November 5,2020, Doug Mastriano alleged various irregularities in the voting process for the US presidential election and called for the resignation of the Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar.
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The meeting, which lasted more than four hours, was organized by Doug Mastriano and was chaired by Pennsylvania State Senator Dave Argall.
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Immediately after the meeting, Trump invited some of the Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Doug Mastriano, to meet with him in the West Wing of the White House on the same day.
37.
Doug Mastriano published an op-ed article in the York Daily Record on December 11, accusing Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Secretary Boockvar, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania of taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to abuse and contravene Pennsylvania Act 77, an act passed on October 29,2019, that modified the election laws in Pennsylvania.
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Doug Mastriano said they "have been making up rules on the fly and unconstitutionally rewrote the law, which compromised our election".
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Doug Mastriano helped organize bus rides for Trump supporters to the protest that preceded the 2021 United States Capitol attack in Washington, DC During the protest, Doug Mastriano said he and his wife left the rally area when it turned violent, which he called "unacceptable".
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Doug Mastriano said he was following police directions and dismissed the accusations as the work of "angry partisans" who were "foot soldiers of the ruling elite".
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Doug Mastriano said he was in the "second row, watching the Trump rally", hoping Congress would legally stop the election's certification.
42.
In June 2021, after the inauguration of President Joe Biden, and without invitation, Doug Mastriano traveled to Arizona along with fellow state senator Cris Dush and state house member Rob Kauffman to observe the 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit, which the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors called a "spectacle".
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Doug Mastriano expressed the desire that the 2020 Pennsylvania ballots be subjected to a process similar to that employed in Maricopa County, Arizona, even though Pennsylvania had already recounted the votes twice and twice confirmed Joe Biden's win and Donald Trump's loss.
44.
On February 15,2022, Doug Mastriano was subpoenaed by the Congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, reportedly to inquire about his role in trying to impanel a slate of alternative electors in Pennsylvania, in an effort to overturn the 2020 Presidential election.
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Doug Mastriano submitted pertinent documents to the committee on May 30,2022, and agreed to be interviewed.
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Doug Mastriano sold more than 130 tickets for those buses.
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Doug Mastriano had long been rumored to be considering a bid for Governor of Pennsylvania, particularly following his high-profile role in trying to change the results of the 2020 Presidential election.
48.
In October 2021, Doug Mastriano said he was considering a run for governor, but was putting out a fleece, and waiting for a sign from God before he could officially announce.
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Doug Mastriano has said that God and former President Donald Trump wanted him to run for governor.
50.
On January 8,2022, Doug Mastriano announced his candidacy as a Republican candidate for governor.
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Doug Mastriano emerged as an early frontrunner in the race, alongside former Congressman Lou Barletta.
52.
Doug Mastriano's campaign motto "Walk as Free People" was a reference to the Bible verse John 8:36.
53.
Jewish organizations criticized Doug Mastriano following the rally due to the improper use of Jewish symbols as "campaign props" to open the event.
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Doug Mastriano's campaign had largely avoided talking to media outlets and journalists, instead choosing to directly reach supporters via Facebook and speaking to a few conservative outlets.
55.
Doug Mastriano's campaign attempted to have two CNN journalists removed from a hotel where they had video equipment set up on a balcony overlooking a rally in Uniontown.
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On November 8,2022, Doug Mastriano lost the general election to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee by about 14 percentage points.
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Doug Mastriano conceded defeat to Shapiro five days after the election while calling for reforms to Pennsylvania's electoral system.
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Former GOP senator from Pennsylvania Pat Toomey claimed that Doug Mastriano is to blame for his loss and those of the Republican senate and congressional candidates.
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At a rally on May 7,2022, Doug Mastriano suggested that his gubernatorial administration would be so conservative that it would make Florida Governor Ron DeSantis look like an "[a]mateur".
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Doug Mastriano has sponsored heartbeat bills, which ban abortions after 6 to 10 weeks.
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In 2019, Doug Mastriano said women who violated his proposed 10-week abortion ban should be charged with murder.
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Doug Mastriano reiterated his intent to do so days after the primary election held on May 17,2022.
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At a 2022 campaign event, Doug Mastriano suggested that he might only certify Pennsylvania's election results if the Republican candidate for president wins.
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Doug Mastriano supports pulling Pennsylvania out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.
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Doug Mastriano has said he supports busing them to Wilmington, Delaware, the hometown of President Joe Biden.
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Doug Mastriano has said that same-sex marriage should be illegal, and that same-sex parents should not be allowed to adopt children.
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An investigation by Media Matters for America found that Doug Mastriano paid Gab, $5,000 on April 28,2022, for "campaign consulting".
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Doug Mastriano has said that he is not antisemitic because his campaign has had Jewish symbols, including the tallit and shofar, at one of their rallies.
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Doug Mastriano faced Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro in the November 8,2022 general election, and lost.
70.
Doug Mastriano faced accusations of antisemitism in September 2022 following comments he made regarding Shapiro, who is Jewish.
71.
Doug Mastriano critiqued Shapiro for sending his kids to a Jewish day school.
72.
Towards the end of the summer, Shapiro's lead over Doug Mastriano began to grow in the polls and Doug Mastriano's campaign lacked the funding to run many ads on TV.
73.
Five days after the election was called for Shapiro, Doug Mastriano formally conceded the race without issue.
74.
Green, who says she has "a special relationship" with Doug Mastriano and gave the opening prayer at one of Doug Mastriano's campaign events, has promoted conspiracy theories including that Nancy Pelosi "loves to drink the little children's blood" and that Joe Biden is actually dead and being played by an actor.
75.
In October 2022, Doug Mastriano appeared at a campaign rally with conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec.
76.
In November 2022, The Daily Beast reported that Doug Mastriano was an administrator for a Facebook group, which features a number of racist and antisemitic posts.
77.
Doug Mastriano received a $500 donation from Andrew Torba, a white supremacist and Christian nationalist.
78.
Doug Mastriano's team uncovered thousands of artifacts that Mastriano believed were related to York's battle of October 8,1918.
79.
Several archeologists and historians have raised questions about Doug Mastriano's findings regarding the location of Alvin York's Medal of Honor actions.
80.
Brad Posey, who initially been a member of Doug Mastriano's team, described Doug Mastriano as "A US Army or Air Force officer using a very cheap-looking metal detector with no experience in metal detecting".
81.
Doug Mastriano grew up in Mercer County, New Jersey and voted in New Jersey until 2010.
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Doug Mastriano's mother Janice was a member of the East Windsor Regional Board of Education for three terms.
83.
Josiah played the role of the Nazi Fritz and Doug Mastriano played the role of American Captain Peter Ortiz.
84.
Doug Mastriano has attended events of the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement advocating the restoration of the offices of so-called "prophets and apostles".