Top Republican with 'army' of supporters makes major campaign announcement as Shapiro launches re-elect

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano is sitting out the 2026 elections, criticizing the state’s political climate in a sharply worded open letter.

Mastriano, who represents Chambersburg, Gettysburg and McSherrystown in the legislature, rose to prominence by spearheading opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns engineered by then-Gov. Tom Wolf; where violations were often litigated by then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Wolf’s cabinet, like then-Health Secretary Rachel Levine and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.

The retired Army colonel and veteran of Desert Storm’s Battle of 73 Easting – the last contemporary tank battle — confirmed to Fox News Digital late Wednesday that he will not seek the Republican nomination for governor despite vocal public support on the conservative right. This opens up the field to State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

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“God has not called us to run for governor in this season,” he said. “Maybe 2028. Maybe 2030. But not now. That does not mean we are stepping away.”

In an accompanying “Open Letter to the People of Pennsylvania” shared with Fox News Digital, Mastriano took jabs at both Shapiro and intraparty critics and promised that his “Walk As Free People” movement started during the lockdowns is not going anywhere.

“[Doug] and his wife Rebbie remain committed to leading and strengthening the grassroots conservative movement across the Commonwealth,” Mastriano added in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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“This movement was never about one person or one campaign,” Mastriano said in a statement issued from Gettysburg. “It has always been about faith, freedom, and the people of Pennsylvania.”

Since the lockdowns, Mastriano and other lawmakers have held rallies and protests around the state, from tiny Jerome, outside Johnstown, to the steps of the Capitol in Harrisburg.

Supporters, who often donned “Walk as Free People” or “Mastriano’s Army” shirts, also held occasional picnics in a lockdown-averse township outside Lancaster.

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Mastriano said that although he lost to Shapiro in 2022, the race saw the highest Republican turnout since 1962, and collected 29,000 ballot signatures.

Supporters claimed during the 2022 race that Mastriano would also have become the first GOP gubernatorial candidate to win without party endorsement intervention in the primary since Gov. Dick Thornburgh – who later became President Ronald Reagan’s attorney general.

“He further challenged Republican Party leadership, rejecting what he described as ‘backroom deals’ and ‘premature endorsements,’ and said future candidates must earn support directly from voters,” the senator’s open letter went on, referencing his reservations about how the race was viewed by the establishment.

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Mastriano also took aim at Shapiro, calling his governorship a “machine… corrupt and riddled with scandal, propped up by Hollywood elites and out-of-state billionaires who neither understand Pennsylvania nor respect its values.”

“Josh Shapiro is not strong, not serious, and not fit to lead,” Mastriano said, going on to suggest that Kamala Harris “distanced herself” from him after vetting her potential running-mates and instead choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Mastriano also condemned members of the media who “spent years trying to destroy [the Walk as Free People] movement while admitting they gave Shapiro a free pass.”

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He added that while he will not seek higher office at this time, his work in the Senate will continue and proof of his movement’s veracity lies in its successful work helping elect Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., and re-electing President Donald Trump.

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When reached for comment, a representative for the Shapiro campaign directed Fox News Digital to a statement from the Pennsylvania Democrats that said the commonwealth is now “stuck with” Garrity.

“Today, it became clear that Pennsylvania Republicans will be stuck with yet again another Republican extremist, Stacy Garrity, as their candidate for governor. Garrity is an election denier who has never stated Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and peddled the dangerous lies that led to the January 6th insurrection,” the statement read in part, appearing to obliquely reference Mastriano’s decision.