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Pennsylvania Governor Odds Favor Democrat Shapiro Over Republican Mastriano

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in Politics News

Updated Aug 29, 2022 · 5:11 PM PDT

Pennsylvania Governor odds
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro answers questions from reporters on Wednesday at an inpatient treatment facility near Wrightsville about a proposed $26 billion settlement with opioid distributors and a manufacturer. 080421 Pmk Josh Shapiro
  • Democrat Josh Shapiro is the -400 favorite to defeat Republican Doug Mastriano in the Pennsylvania Governor election
  • Shapiro is displaying a healthy lead in the polls
  • Two of the last three Governors in the Keystone State were Democrats

In the Pennsylvania Governor race, the lines are clearly drawn between Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican Doug Mastriano.

Take education, for instance. Shapiro, currently Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, wants to increase funding for public education. He’s seeking to follow the path laid out by current Governor Tom Wolf.

Mastriano, a Pennsylvania State Senator, would instead dramatically cut that funding. He’d slash it from $19,000 to $9,00 per student. He also wants to eliminate property taxes. That’s a major funding envelope of public education.

2022 Pennsylvania Governor Election Odds

Party Odds
Republican +275
Democrat -400
Other +5000

Odds from Bet365 as of August 26th.

Note that the odds quoted above are from Bet365, a sportsbook which is permitted to offer political futures in European and UK markets. This market is not open to US bettors.

Christina PK Digiulio of the Green Party,  Libertarian Matt Hackenberg, and Joe Sokoloski of the Keystone Party are also on the ballot in the Pennsylvania Governor election.

At a betting line of -40, Shapiro and the Democrats are being given an implied probability of victory that works out to 80%. A $10 wager on him would return a payout of just $12.50 should they be the party that wins the 2022 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election.

The people of Pennsylvania will be going to the polls to elect a new Governor on November 8, 2022.

Shapiro Holds Strong Profile In Pennsylvania Politics

Shapiro won the Democratic nomination unopposed. He’s serving his second term as state attorney general. Prior to that, Shapiro was the chairman of the Board of Commissioners in Montgomery County.

He’s pushing for voting and abortion rights on the campaign trail.  Shapiro also is holding a significant advantage in terms of campaign finance. He’s been able to fundraise approximately $18 million more than Mastriano.

The Democrats have won the last two Pennsylvania Gubernatorial elections by wide margins. Wolf won his first stint in the Governor’s chair by 10 points. He doubled that advantage while winning re-election in 2018.

Mastriano Has Backing Of Trump

Mastriano is basically following the Republican blueprint with the majority of his talking points. He is anti abortion. He’s also calling for an immediate ban on Critical Race Theory and Gender Theory studies in the state’s schools. Mastriano also touts the scientifically discredited conversion therapy for curing gays. He insists that climate change is nothing more than a theory.

Mastriano is drawing backing from former US President Donald Trump. He’s also strongly supporting Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 US Presidential election was rigged. Mastriano was also spearheading the failed Pennsylvania Republican bid to be overturning the election results. Chartering buses, Mastriano was helping to transport Trump supporters to the Jan. 6 insurrection that led to the invasion of the Capitol Building. The January 6 Committee is calling Mastriano to testify.

Recently, it’s also come to light that Mastriano posed for a photo wearing a Confederate uniform. A retired Army Colonel, he was teaching at the Army War College. Mastriano opted to pose for a faculty photo as a Confederate soldier.

Polls Show Shapiro Pulling Away From Mastriano

The most recent polling on the Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election was conducted August 15-21. It was done for the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall. It’s showing Shapiro jumping into a healthier lead. He’s ahead 44-33% edge among decided voters.

Some independent polls are showing Shapiro to be leading by as much as 15 points. The analytics site fivethirtyeight.com is displaying an average of all reported polls. this research is giving Shapiro a lead of 8.2 points over Mastriano.

The web page Race To The White House is giving Shapiro an 89.2% chance of victory in the election for Pennsylvania Governor.

Pick: Josh Shapiro -400.

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