HARRISBURG (AP) - Doug Mastriano has won the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania governor, overcoming an eleventh-hour push by the state’s GOP political establishment to consolidate support around an alternative in the crowded primary.

Mastriano, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and has promoted his lies about the 2020 election, will face Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro in the November general election. The incumbent, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, is term-limited.

In Carbon County, however, former Hazleton mayor Lou Barletta was the top vote getter, with 4,265

votes to Mastriano’s 2,590 votes.

Some state GOP leaders have warned that Mastriano is too extreme to defeat Shapiro in the presidential battleground state. Mastriano, a state senator and retired U.S. Army colonel, built a devoted online following by leading opposition to state-ordered shutdowns during the pandemic and taking a prominent role in the unsuccessful effort to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat.

Mastriano’s primary campaign spent almost nothing on television - ads attacking him were much more visible. Instead, he connected with far-right GOP voters through appearances on conservative broadcasters and by a tireless ground campaign that has left the state dotted with his yard signs.

Mastriano, 58, represents a Senate district based in conservative Franklin County on Pennsylvania’s southern border with Maryland. In the campaign, he emphasized his military background and Christian beliefs and shunned traditional media while criticizing the party establishment. He overcame a number of better-funded rivals with stronger establishment connections, including former Barletta, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, businessman Dave White and others.

Fetterman

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has won the state’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate just days after suffering a stroke.

The 52-year-old Fetterman defeated U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta on Tuesday to advance to November’s general election. He will face the winner of a hotly contested Republican primary that includes Dr. Mehmet Oz, ex-hedge fund CEO David McCormick and conservative activist Kathy Barnette.

Fetterman suffered a stroke Friday, injecting uncertainty into the Democratic primary race that for weeks had been shaping up as a runaway. He said he is on his way to a “full recovery” but will remain in the hospital for a while.

Fetterman, a former mayor of Braddock, is a progressive who has vowed to be a reliable vote for organized labor and liberal causes in Washington. Democrats see the seat being vacated by retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey as among their best pickup opportunities in the country.

Shapiro

Pennsylvania Democrats have made their choice for governor official, handing the nomination to second-term state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Shapiro was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The incumbent, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, is term-limited.

Shapiro, 48, from the Philadelphia suburb of Abington, spent the primary campaign season raising money and working to boost his pick for lieutenant governor ahead of what is expected to be a grueling fall campaign.

He is a former state lawmaker and county commissioner whose record as attorney general includes the production of a 2018 report into child sexual abuse among the state’s Catholic churches.

Shapiro’s advertising in recent weeks has included spots introducing him to voters, but he also has targeted state Sen. Doug Mastriano as the Republican gubernatorial candidate emerged from the large primary field as a front-runner.