(WHTM) – The chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party is responding to grassroots members’ complaints that the party is putting its thumb on the scale in next year’s race for governor.

State Senator Doug Mastriano was the party’s gubernatorial nominee in 2022 after receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump. Mastriano went on to lose the general election to Josh Shapiro by nearly 15%.

Mastriano has said he’s considering another run in 2026, but has criticized the party’s decision to, in his words, “coronate” State Treasurer Stacy Garrity last month instead of having a competitive primary next spring.

“They’d rather lose a general election than let the people pick somebody who has a good chance of winning. It’s madness,” Mastriano said on the John Fredericks Show.

State Senator and chairman of the state Republican Party Greg Rothman on Friday, who described Mastriano as a “friend” who has served his country and the state, insists the party made the right decision to endorse Garrity and give her “a head start.”

“We are absolutely saying who we believe is the best candidate to beat Josh Shapiro, and that is Stacy Garrity,” said Rothman.

More than 300 elected party members endorsed Garrity in September as the party’s nominee for governor. Rothman pointed to a similar approach to last year’s U.S. Senate race when the decks were cleared for Dave McCormick, who went on to defeat incumbent Bob Casey (D).

Rothman said the party is “clearly united” around Garrity despite some complaints from those in his party. Rothman says he’s also spoken to the president specifically about the race for governor.

“I think that the president endorsing anybody would be very helpful right now, but there’s no reason that he would not endorse Stacy Garrity,” said Rothman. “(The president) has more important things to do, like getting the government back up and running.”

On Wednesday, Quinnipiac University released a poll showing Garrity and Mastriano losing by double-digits to Shapiro.

Rothman responded by pointing to Pennsylvania voters having a long history of Election Day upsets, pointing to Garrity’s victory over incumbent treasurer Joe Torsella in 2020.

You can hear more from Rothman on This Week in Pennsylvania on Sunday, October 5.