Mastriano could have been the worst strategic decision. A decent PA-Gov nominee could have at least carried the Senate seat on his coattails. We saw something very similar in NY with Zeldin and the House seats.
This. Mastriano lost in a humiliating blowout. And he took down other GOPers as well in Congressional races who could’ve won (quite a few House seats…). It was the GOP equivalent of NY or FL (though FL only half-counts since it was a GOP gerrymander there anyway) - a grossly underperforming gubernatorial candidate helping to bring down congressional candidates.
It is worth noting that the Dems barely spent any money in FL-Gov or FL-Sen at all. Not to say they would've won if they had, but Rubio and DeSantis' inflated margins are almost certainly due to that. The GOP spent through the nose in PA and has almost nothing to show for it.
Demings actually did have credible fundraising. It was a total of around 75 million IIRC. Crist was fairly embarrassing considering how much national media DeSantis attracts.
