Doug Mastriano Makes Dan Cox, QAnon-Sympathizing Insurrectionist, Chief Of Staff
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Doug Mastriano, the far-right Pennsylvania state senator who lost the governor’s race in November, has tapped another failed gubernatorial candidate to be his chief of staff.
Dan Cox, who was defeated in the race for Maryland governor, will commute to Pennsylvania to work for Mastriano. “I’m very honored to have the opportunity to continue on with a lot of the work we’ve been doing,” Cox told The Baltimore Banner on Thursday, confirming his appointment.
Mastriano and Cox are friends who counted each other as close allies during their respective bids for governor. Their legislative districts — when Cox still served in the Maryland House of Delegates — shared a border along the Mason-Dixon Line. Both organized buses on Jan. 6, 2021, to send supporters to the “Stop the Steal” rally that exploded into a violent attack on the Capitol. Both men attended an April 2022 gathering in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, hosted by followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory. And both men are ardent election deniers who earned endorsements from former President Donald Trump last year.
Mastriano lost to Democrat Josh Shapiro by 15 points in his governor’s race, and Cox lost to Democrat Wes Moore by 32 points.
Their losses came after their Democratic opponents frequently highlighted the pair’s extremism and their support of Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Mastriano — a Christian nationalist who frequently campaigned alongside self-described “prophets” — attempted in November 2020 to push through a resolution in the Republican-controlled state legislature that would have revoked President Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania, and instead would have appointed Trump-supporting electors who would have handed him a second term.
Both Mastriano and Cox were in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, for the pro-Trump rally that became the insurrection. “Pence is a traitor,” Cox tweeted that afternoon as rioters stormed the Capitol, upset over then-Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to fulfill Trump’s demand that he reject the certification of the 2020 Electoral College votes. (Rioters at the Capitol that day chanted, “Hang Pence.”)
Cox later claimed he wrote the tweet while leaving the event and had been unaware of the violence going on at the Capitol. “I had no realization of the gravity of the situation at the moment and with my very small twitter following had no intent to stir up anything,” he said.
According to The Baltimore Banner, Cox will serve as Mastriano’s chief of staff while concentrating on veterans issues. Mastriano, a veteran himself, chairs the veterans committee in the Pennsylvania Senate.
Cox will still reside in Maryland, he told the paper, and plans to start a podcast.
