Experts say Mastriano may be too extreme to win PA race

CAMP HILL, Pa. (CBS) -- The race for governor is largely believed to favor Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro, the state attorney general. Political experts stress Shapiro is a safe choice over Republican Doug Mastriano, who is believed to be extreme on some important issues.

Mastriano said Monday he doesn't pay attention to the polls and doesn't count him out.

Mastriano voted early Tuesday morning. He posted a video to Twitter showing him at the polling station. 

The Mastriano camp will anchor on Election Day evening at the Convention Center in Camp Hill. Shapiro's campaign will be at the Oaks Convention Center in Montgomery County.

Both candidates pushed it to the very end in reaching out to voters.

Mastriano, a state senator and retired Army colonel, spent a significant amount of time in recent days in Shapiro's backyard, the Delaware Valley.

Will it make a difference? Political analysts who appeared on CBS3 said Mastriano's campaign is "too outside" of the middle and that the candidate himself is "too extreme on a handful of issues," including women's and abortion rights, as well as voting access. 

Shapiro on the other hand is perceived to be moderate, with a track record of taking on the clergy sex abuse scandal statewide and going after big energy companies responsible for polluting the environment.

Shapiro has been in political office for nearly 20 years.

Mastriano and Shapiro both have had heavyweight political support.

Former President Donald Trump stumped for Mastriano in Westmoreland County, while President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama were on the trail with Shapiro.

CBS3 chatted earlier with a political expert from the University of Virginia who tracks important and noteworthy races, including this one.

"It's been many, many, many decades since three Democrats have been elected in a row, at least three Democratic victories," Dr. Larry Sabato said. "But that's very likely going to happen tonight because the Republicans ended up nominating somebody who is just two outside the mainstream, and that's not me talking, that's the Republicans in Pennsylvania who are talking who endorsed Josh Shapiro." 

The prediction is the fight was over before it began.

Sabato even predicts an internal rebuild of the state's Republican party if Mastriano will be defeated. 

"The Republicans have got to sit back and think about what they did and how to can prevent this from happening in the future if they can," Sabato said. "Maybe their primary electorate is simply out of their control. And if so, then they have a major problem going forward."

But the Mastriano camp is not concerned about the noise beyond this setting Tuesday.

They're extremely confident and suggest to many that polls are rigged and inaccurate.

In:
• Elections
• Doug Mastriano
• Josh Shapiro