Philly Leader

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, has released a new ad featuring a testimonial from Army Staff sergeant Lance Frazee.

“It’s important to me that I bring everyone along with me and bring everyone hope and opportunity,” Mastriano says in the ad. “I want every Pennsylvanian to know that I will have their back.”

Mastriano's campaign announced that he has released a new $1 million ad campaign, which includes a 30-second and 60-second ad, both of which will air on TV and digital platforms, according to a news release.

Frazee, who served in the Alpha Company, 229th Military Intelligence Battalion in the late 1990s under Mastriano's leadership, is featured in the ad, describing Mastriano's style as a military leader. 

“We’d be on a run and soldiers were starting to get tired, and he would run all the way around trying to motivate soldiers,” Frazee says. “He would be back there with a soldier who was falling out [saying] ‘you can do this, you can do this!’ Next thing you know, he was bringing them back to the flock.”

Mastriano served 30 years on active duty, retiring as a Colonel in 2017, according to his website.  He joined the U.S. Army in 1986, witnessing the end of the Cold War and participating in Operation Desert Storm.  He was the director of NATO's Joint Intelligence Center in Afghanistan, where he served 3 tours after 9/11.  While in the Middle East, Mastriano also spearheaded seven relief operations to provide help to Afghan orphans.  He was elected to represent Pennsylvania's 33rd District in the state Senate in 2019.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last week that the Democrat candidate for governor, Josh Shapiro, had spent $27 to every $1 Mastriano had spent.  Shapiro, who is the state's current attorney general, was able to stack up almost $16 million before the primary election because he ran unopposed.

Mastriano beat eight challengers to win the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania's gubernatorial race, according to Ballotpedia. Mastriano and Shapiro will face off in the Nov. 8 general election.