I’d like to start this opinion piece by emphasizing that The Globe does not endorse political candidates. While I am the Editor-In-Chief of The Globe, any perceived endorsement I am about to make is by my own free will and does not represent the opinions of any other member of The Globe or of the publication at large. Likewise, despite the fact that I have opinions on the election, this does not mean that our coverage has been or will be biased toward any candidate – we simply report the facts. This concludes the disclaimer portion of this article.

There is a lot on the ballot in the state of Pennsylvania this year. Most notably: democracy.

It is incredibly frustrating to have lived through several elections that have been referred to as “the most important election of all time.” What is even more frustrating is that it is true. Unfortunately, every election of the past twenty years has continued a political process that has snowballed to where we are today.

When I say that democracy is on the ballot, I mean that by definition democracy is on the ballot. First of all, in order to have a healthy democracy, as many of us need to vote as we physically can. Without everyone’s collective input, democracy cannot, by definition, exist.

I am tolerant and understanding of view points that differ from mine. Likewise, I acknowledge that I do not hold all the answers.

There is no argument whatsoever between the candidates this year. I will be voting Democrat, straight ticket, as I always do. Since I was first able to vote in the 2018 midterms four years ago, the Republican party has been a party of hate.

I have never once in my life heard a compelling argument to vote for a Republican other than “they aren’t the Democrats.” This is, to an extent, an understandable argument. The Democratic candidates for office are not perfect. However, when stacked against their Republican opponents the choice could not be simpler.

There has been a lot said about the Pennsylvania senatorial race, and I do not want to tread on that. That election, in my eyes, ultimately comes down to the fact that John Fetterman is from this state and Doctor Oz is from New Jersey..

Doug Mastriano cannot be elected. He has such a lengthy history of hate that to list everything  hateful that he has ever said or done would take the entirety of this week’s Globe, the entirety of next week’s Globe, and then probably four or five more after that.

Mastriano called Roe v. Wade “worse than the holocaust.” He wants to ban abortion completely, without exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or even if the life of the mother is threatened. That is unacceptable. We cannot allow someone who views women as second class citizens to be elected as our governor.

But women aren’t the only thing that Mastriano hates. He wants to make gay marriage illegal, and has called gender transitioning surgeries “experimental medical proceedures.” Of the numerous conspiracy theories that he has supported publicly, one of them includes a conspiracy that the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are “grabbing homeless kids… [and] experimenting on them with gender transitioning.”

Mastriano also has a history of saying degrading things about muslims, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to this article.

On top of all of this, Mastriano repeatedly attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, attempting to use his role as state senator to block delegates from casting Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for Biden.

The possibility of a Mastriano governorship terrifies me. Josh Shapiro is not a perfect candidate, but above all else I believe that he is a good man. I know for a fact that Doug Mastriano is not.