Nearly 60 percent of candidates on ballots nationwide in this November’s election have denied the results of the 2020 presidential election, reports MSNBC host and Citizen Board Member Ali Velshi. Pennsylvania, as the “swingiest swing state,” represents a test to American democracy.
Our statewide elections consist of two especially high-profile races: TV celebrity doctor and Trump acolyte Mehmet Oz (Republican) versus Lieutenant Governor and former Braddock, PA mayor John Fetterman (Democrat), for a majority-shifting seat in the U.S. Senate, (being vacated by Pat Toomey, a Republican).
Perhaps more crucially, PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro (Democrat) is running for the governor’s job against Doug Mastriano (Republican), who represents PA’s 33rd District in the State Senate and took part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The job of governor of PA is somewhat unique in that only they can appoint a Secretary of State and therefore certify — or decertify — an election. Mastriano has threatened to use his power as governor to decertify voting machines.
For this reason, says Velshi, “Pennsylvania is actually where democracy could go to die in November.” It’s also why many PA Republicans are backing Shapiro.
“The stakes are so high. The contrast couldn’t be clearer,” says Shapiro. “Folks recognize that this is a moment where we have to come together.”
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