From the moment Doris Petersheim learned that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was making his way to Pennsylvania to campaign with Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Willow Street resident and FreePA member knew she had to be there to see it.
But Petersheim didn’t want to go alone to the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown hotel for the Friday afternoon rally sponsored by Turning Point Action. Instead, she hatched a plan to bring together a few dozen of her friends and other patriots from eastern Pennsylvania for a four-hour bus trip leaving from Ephrata Friday morning.
Petersheim said “it was a God thing” that brought the bus trip together smoothly as seats filled up within a couple days of the announcement. She also said she wasn’t disappointed by the trip and the rally, saying it was “a bit surreal” seeing Mastriano and DeSantis on the same stage and that the appearance by the popular southern governor would “give a boost to the campaign” of the state senator.
“Now that DeSantis is here endorsing him, I think it’s going to give out Mastriano’s name even more,” Petersheim said. “I felt Mastriano’s stance and presence was much more of a commanding presence of a governor. I just sensed a change in him today.”
The Rally
More than 1,500 supporters filled the ballroom of the downtown Pittsburgh hotel on Aug. 19, some lining up hours ahead of time to get into the venue.
From the start of his speech, Mastriano went on the attack against the policy of Democrats in Pennsylvania and around the country, pointing out rising inflation rates and gas prices and empty shelves in grocery stores.
Mastriano particularly lashed out against his opponent for governor, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, accusing him of being soft on crime and unable to run on his record as the senior law enforcement official in the state for the last six years. He cited looting and arson during the “mostly peaceful protest in the summer of love” in 2020 and a lack of prosecution of the crimes.
“They don’t want to talk about crime going up 37% since he’s been the attorney general,” Mastriano said. “This guy’s a failure, and we need to fire him.”
Mastriano was also quick to criticize the actions of Shapiro and former Pennsylvania Secretary of Health and current U.S. Surgeon General Rachel Levine during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the mandates led to businesses being shut down, deaths in nursing homes and students being forced to wear masks in schools.
“They don’t want to talk about Levine and that ridiculous policy of sending the sick back into homes,” Mastriano said. “We had 150 years of germ theory by Louis Pasteur rolled back, and Levine found that it was a bad idea and snuck mom out, but your moms were left to die alone.”
DeSantis, who has come to the forefront of the conservative political movement since taking the helm as governor of Florida in 2019, touted his own accomplishments in taking on establishment Democrats and the media in his state.
DeSantis laid out his role as the state leader to keep businesses open during COVID and “bucking” the recommendations of bureaucrats like Chief Medical Advisor to the president, Anthony Fauci. He also touted bills and legislation limiting the teaching of critical race theory in schools and the promotion of civics in classrooms.
“We need to understand that our rights come from God, not from the government,” DeSantis said to a standing ovation from the crowd.
Local Opinions
For the Lancaster County residents who rode to Pittsburgh on the tour bus, the rally was an opportunity to see one of the most prominent voices in the conservative movement with a Pennsylvania politician attempting to take up a similar conservative mantle for the commonwealth.
Loreen Sauder of Maytown came to the rally with her husband, Kent, saying she was excited to see DeSantis. Sauder said she has been impressed with DeSantis’s accomplishments in Florida and that his “Christian and moral values shine through” the bills and legislation he has helped to foster.
“Not only does he have these ideas, but he actually passes them and makes them into law,” Sauder said. “That gives me hope for Mastriano because I see the same character traits and fortitude in him. That’s what we need – we need new blood in politics.”
Marla Bixler of Marietta said DeSantis and Mastriano are “cut from the same cloth in their worldview.” She said both politicians are “patriots” who love the country and “want to see it returned to its Biblical grounding and its moral grounding.”
Kathleen Harrison of Mount Joy was running around the ballroom of the hotel for most of the rally, taking pictures of DeSantis and Mastriano. She said DeSantis’s speech sounded like he was getting ready for a “presidential run,” and having him there was a “big push” for Mastriano’s campaign.
“The fact that the two of them are working together is exciting,” Harrison said. “They both outline problems that can be solved with a conservative approach.”
Staff writer Michael Yoder can be reached at michael@thelancasterpatriot.com. Follow @YoderReports on Twitter.
Staff writer Michael Yoder is an award-winning journalist who has been honored with several Keystone Press Awards for his investigative pieces.
