Shapiro on Mastriano not calling to concede: ‘Who cares’

Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro (D) said on Sunday that his Republican opponent, Doug Mastriano, has not called to concede the race after major media outlets projected his loss on Tuesday night.

“I mean, who cares if he calls, right?” Shapiro told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” 

“He doesn’t get to pick the winner, the people pick the winner,” Shapiro continued. “And in a resounding way, they made clear that they wanted me to lead this commonwealth forward.”

Shapiro leads Mastriano by 14 percentage points, or roughly 755,000 votes, as of Sunday morning, with nearly all votes counted.

Mastriano ran far behind Pennsylvania Senate Republican nominee Mehmet Oz, who conceded the race after he was defeated by roughly 4 percentage points.

Former President Trump had endorsed Mastriano, who ran on a conservative platform and attracted criticisms for his being in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

Part of Mastriano’s platform included eliminating ballot drop boxes and no-excuse mail voting as well as passing universal voter identification requirements.

“We had an historic win, more votes than any gubernatorial candidate in history, so I could care less if the guy calls me,” Shapiro said on CNN. “What matters is the people chose me, and I look forward to getting to work for them in January.”