Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, 58, works the crowd of about 150 supporters at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums on Saturday.
                                 Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, 58, works the crowd of about 150 supporters at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums on Saturday.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

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<p>Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, 58, works the crowd of about 150 supporters at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums on Saturday.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, 58, works the crowd of about 150 supporters at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums on Saturday.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

<p>Doug Mastriano and his wife, Rebbie, received several ovations as they spelled out their plan to take Pennsylvania back.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

Doug Mastriano and his wife, Rebbie, received several ovations as they spelled out their plan to take Pennsylvania back.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

<p>Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano Saturday told about 150 supporters at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums that their vote will ‘save our nation by saving our state.’</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano Saturday told about 150 supporters at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums that their vote will ‘save our nation by saving our state.’

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

<p>Jim Bognet, Republican candidate in the 8th Congressional District, told the crowd at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums that ‘we need to take back Pennsylvania and America,’ as he urged them to vote for him and Doug Mastriano.</p>
                                 <p>Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader</p>

Jim Bognet, Republican candidate in the 8th Congressional District, told the crowd at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums that ‘we need to take back Pennsylvania and America,’ as he urged them to vote for him and Doug Mastriano.

Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader

DRUMS — Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano Saturday said what’s at stake in the Nov. 8 general election is “everything we hold dear as Pennsylvanians and as Americans.”

Mastriano, 58, urged about 150 supporters at Four Blooms Restaurant in Drums that their vote will “save our nation by saving our state.”

Mastriano and his wife, Rebbie, received several ovations as they spelled out their plan to take Pennsylvania back.

Mastriano also took several jibes at “the left wing liberal media” during his 45 minute speech.

Mastriano is retired military officer who has served in the Pennsylvania Senate since 2019, representing the 33rd Senatorial District. He is running against two-term Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Mastriano went through his plan should he become governor. On day one, Mastriano said he will put an end to Gov. Tom Wolf’s mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and “his draconian COVID restrictions.” He said he would reject “unconstitutional edicts” that come down from the CDC and the Biden administration, and he’ll expand access to effective COVID therapies.

Mastriano also vowed to “keep our elections free and fair,” stating he will appoint a Secretary of State who “will secure our elections from fraud.”Mastriano also said he will partner with the state legislature to eliminate “no-excuse” mail-in voting, get rid of drop boxes, and pass universal voter ID.

Mastriano said he will make Pennsylvania a “2nd Amendment Sanctuary,” where rights will be protected against misguided federal bureaucrats that want to disarm law-abiding citizens. Mastriano said he will work with the legislature to make Pennsylvania a safe, constitutional carry state.

Mastriano said he will assure law and order is restored. He said Pennsylvania will no longer be a “sanctuary state” under his administration.

Discussing the right-to-life issue, Mastriano said he will always protect the right to life — he said he will sign the Heartbeat bill into law, end funding to Planned Parenthood, and expand counseling for adoption services.

His wife, Rebbie, took the stage for her comments on a woman’s right to choose.

Rebbie Mastriano said she and her husband support “a woman’s right to be born, to choose their child’s education, to purchase affordable groceries, to live in a safe community, to [prosecute criminals, to be protected by the First Amendment and the Second Amendment, to compete in sports and not be dominated by men.”

“We need all of your voices,” Doug Mastriano said, urging them to volunteer by knocking on doors and working at the polls. “Start by telling your neighbors at church or at the grocery store to vote for me and Jim Bognet for Congress. We have to save the future for generations to come.”

Mastriano said he believes government’s top job is to provide for the safety of its citizens.

“As governor, I’ll hold elected officials accountable for enforcing the law and prosecuting crime,” Mastriano said. “If they won’t do their jobs, I will remove them.”

Mastriano said he will support law enforcement by ensuring they have adequate funding. He said he will keep violent criminals behind bars “where they belong” and he’ll strengthen penalties for repeat offenders and those convicted of violent crime.

If elected governor, Mastriano said Pennsylvania will never be a sanctuary state for President Joe Biden’s illegal immigrants, and he’ll hold Pennsylvania’s elected officials accountable for cracking down on the fentanyl being brought across the southern border, which he said is taking the lives of 15 Pennsylvanians each and every day.

“If they land planes filled with illegals, I will have them placed on busses and taken to Joe Biden’s home in Delaware,” Mastriano said.

Mastriano said he believes parents have a fundamental right “to know and control” what their children are learning in school. Mastriano said he will strengthen and enforce statewide curriculum transparency requirements, and work with the legislature to establish a universal “Parental Rights” statute in the law.

“Schools should teach children how to think, not what to think,” he said. “On day one, I will place an immediate ban on Critical Race and Gender Theory Studies in Pennsylvania schools.”

Also on day one of his administration, Mastriano said he will place an immediate ban on biological males in girls’ locker rooms and restrooms. On the same day, Mastriano said he will ban biological males from competing in girls’ sports.

Mastriano said he will encourage investments in the natural gas and coal industries, and he’ll lift Gov. Wolf’s “unreasonable regulations, taxes, and fees” on these industries.

“We will dig, drill and mine like it should, and Pennsylvania will prosper,” he said.

“It’s all going to happen,” Mastriano said. “You all have the last word on Nov. 8. Woke is broke. Josh Shapiro is too far left, too extreme.”

Jim Bognet, Republican candidate in the 8th Congressional District, arrived late after being stuck in traffic.

“Thank you all for caring about your state and your country,” Bognet said. “We need to take back Pennsylvania and America. Our country is at a crossroad. The economy is in a ditch and our values are lost. We need you to get out and vote.”

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.