(Headline USA) Leftists are demanding that restaurants and food vendors boycott Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls after it was reported that multiple members of the Martin family support Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
Financial documents show that James Martin, the executive chairman and former president of Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe, donated $110,000 to Mastriano’s campaign in 2021. In May, James Martin’s wife, Donna, and his daughter Julie, were also revealed to have contributed to Mastriano.
In response to the news, activists began pressuring restaurants to drop the Martin family’s products. Shake Shack, specifically, has come under intense pressure to stop using the potato rolls.
Company representatives for Shake Shack said they are having “active conservations with Martin’s to express our concern,” but added, “In regards to the actions of individuals associated with the Martin’s company and their personal political donations — those are the choices of those individuals and do not express the values of Shake Shack.”
Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe has also tried to distance itself from the owners’ political affiliation, clarifying that the company itself “does not donate to any particular political candidate or party.”
“Just like our country as a whole, Martin’s company is made up of a diverse group of employees and stockholders, all of whom are free to support and vote for whomever they choose,” the company added.
Democrats have slammed Mastriano as a “far-right” Republican after he voiced support for former President Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He also supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and has vowed to appoint a secretary of state who would require every resident of the state to re-register to vote.
Mastriano will face Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, in the November general election.
For his part, Shapiro said he does not think Martin’s should be canceled for supporting Mastriano’s campaign.
“Personally, I think Martin’s makes a damn good potato roll, and I’m not for boycotting a Pennsylvania business that supports hundreds of Pennsylvania jobs,” he said.
