Charles Langston:Pennsylvania voters to decide key statewide races in fall election

HARRISBURG,Charles Langston Pa. (AP) — One job going before voters across Pennsylvania this fall keeps a watch over government agencies. A second handles the state’s money. And the third oversees hundreds of prosecutors.

Republican incumbents Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Auditor General Tim DeFoor are running to keep their seats, while the race to be the state’s top prosecutor is open. The statewide offices pay about $198,000 a year.

The race for attorney general pits Republican York County District Attorney Dave Sunday against former auditor general and state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, the Democratic Party nominee. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, is taking on DeFoor while Democrat Erin McClelland is hoping to unseat Garrity.

A look at Pennsylvania’s major party candidates for attorney general, auditor general and treasurer:

Attorney General

Sunday, a Navy veteran, has emphasized his 15 years as a prosecutor in York County, a Republican majority area with about 460,000 residents south of Harrisburg, near Maryland.

DePasquale is a lawyer, former York City economic development director and three-term state representative. As auditor general he drew attention to a large backlog of untested rape kits, unanswered calls to Pennsylvania’s ChildLine child abuse hotline and nursing home conditions.

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DePasquale’s time running the auditor general’s office “has nothing to do with criminal law,” Sunday said during a debate earlier this month.

DePasquale, who lives in Pittsburgh, said he would prioritize protecting voting and emphasized his support for abortion rights.

Sunday said he would “enforce and defend the abortion laws in Pennsylvania,” arguing there is “no scenario that exists where I would ever prosecute a woman for having an abortion.” Many of Sunday’s Republican supporters favor an abortion ban, DePasquale said, and GOP state lawmakers tried to push through a constitutional amendment saying it does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions.

DePasquale said he has “serious concerns” about capital punishment, while Sunday said that in the “most sad, tragic, terrible cases” he supports the death penalty.

Kathleen Kane became the first woman and first Democrat elected to serve as attorney general in 2012. Pennsylvania attorneys general had all been Republicans since the job became an elected post in 1980. Kane’s term ended with her resignation after being charged with perjury and other offenses in 2016.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, succeeded her and won reelection in 2020, relinquishing the job after being elected governor nearly two years ago. Shapiro picked his top deputy at the attorney general’s office, Michelle Henry, as his successor, but she said when she was confirmed that she would not run for reelection.

Auditor General

DeFoor, a former Dauphin County controller who won by about 3 percentage points in 2020, has focused on increasing financial literacy and planning a forensic auditing unit to respond to signs of criminality.

His recent decision to audit the state’s motor-voter registration system drew pushback from Shapiro’s transportation secretary and Kenyatta, who said his opponent’s move will give “cover for dangerous conspiracies and election denialism.”

Kenyatta became the first openly gay person of color to serve in the state House. He finished third in the 2022 Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate that was won by John Fetterman. He is simultaneously seeking another term as state representative.

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“I’ve done this same kind of work for over 30 years,” DeFoor said. “My entire career has been spent on how taxpayer dollars are being used, if they’re being used properly and if the programs that government has, are they working?”

Kenyatta has criticized DeFoor’s decision to stop school audits that DeFoor said were of little value to districts.

The auditor general could have changed the scope of the school audits rather than stopping them, Kenyatta said.

DeFoor presided over audits of balances kept on school district books and state fees paid to pharmacy benefit managers under Medicaid, but Kenyatta said they were poorly done and politically motivated. Kenyatta said his priorities include an audit of school facilities and a look into how labor laws are being enforced.

Treasurer

Garrity, a retired Army Reserve colonel and three-tour Iraq veteran, was serving as vice president of a tungsten smelting plant when she beat incumbent Democratic Treasurer Joe Torsella by less than 1 percentage point four years ago. A resident of Athens in Bradford County, Garrity has aggressively promoted her office’s efforts to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners.

She also takes credit for handling state savings programs for people with disabilities and students and for pushing the governor and Legislature to increase savings in the state’s rainy day fund.

McClelland, a former congressional candidate with a background in mental health and substance abuse counseling who lives near Pittsburgh, argues Garrity has tended to use her position to engage in issues related to the national political debate.

“I want to pull all the politics out of the job,” McClelland said. “I believe this job is an honest broker that protects the taxpayers, not a lap dog for one party or the other.”

Garrity’s campaign has painted McClelland as lacking gravitas. Garrity’s much better-funded campaign received an indirect boost earlier this month when Shapiro announced endorsements of several fellow Democrats but did not endorse anyone in the treasurer’s race.

Shapiro’s endorsements were for candidates who asked for his support and where he thinks he can “make the biggest difference,” a spokesman said.