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Mastriano endorses fellow Army veteran as his choice for Pa. lieutenant governor

Patriot-News - 1/13/2022

Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has given a fellow Army veteran Teddy Daniels his endorsement as Pennsylvania’s next lieutenant governor.

Daniels, of Wayne County, shared via livestream on Facebook on Wednesday his intention to run for the statewide office rather than pursuing the state’s 8th Congressional District seat that he announced he was seeking on Saturday at Mastriano’s formal announcement of his gubernatorial bid.

“After much thought, much consideration, after people from across the state have approached me, I have made the decision to announce my candidacy for the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania,” he said on Facebook on Wednesday. Attempts to contact Daniels and Mastriano for comment were unsuccessful.

Daniels, considered a far-right conservative much like Mastriano and a self-described “ruffle-your-feathers type person,” identifies himself as an anti-establishment candidate with no interest in working with the Republican Party to get his message out in his pursuit for the Republican nomination for the state’s second-in-command post.

That was evident in his video where Daniels accused the GOP of only being interested in status quo politicians. He took a shot at GOP gubernatorial candidate Jake Corman, the top Republican in the Senate, for taking the leadership of the Senate GOP’s 2020 election review away from Mastriano and handing it to another senator due to Corman’s quest for the governor’s office.

Further, he said as lieutenant governor, he will use the office to “help push the governor’s agenda. We’re going to start whipping votes with the senators because I’ll be honest with you, Pennsylvania is filled with too many RINOs [Republicans in name only] who are afraid to make the right call, to make the tough call. So you know what? If we can’t make them see the light, we’ll make them feel the heat and that’s what we’re going to do there.”

Mastriano via telephone in the video threw his support behind Daniels who Mastriano said he has known for close to two years.

“He’s a fighter. He loves his country. He’s a man whose going to do whatever it takes to restore Pennsylvania’s freedom,” Mastriano said. “He put a uniform on to defend the honor of his country. And I know Teddy, he’s a guy who’s going to make a difference. He doesn’t play around. He knows everything’s at stake so because of that, I fully 100% stand with Teddy. I endorse Teddy for lieutenant governor.”

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.