Democrats swept the three state row offices in yesterday’s election.
Kathleen Kane, a former Lackawanna County assistant district attorney, became the first woman and the first Democrat to win the Attorney General’s job since the post became an elected position in 1980. She garnered more than 2.9 million votes, or about 56 per cent of the ballots cast. Kane defeated Republican David Freed, the Cumberland County District Attorney, who received 2.1 million votes, or about 42 per cent. A Libertarian candidate, Marakay Rogers, received less than three per cent.
The incumbent AG, Linda Kelly, did not run for a full four-year term as the state’s top law enforcement officer. She had been appointed to serve out the last two years of the term of Tom Corbett, who stepped down after he was elected governor in 2010.
In the race for Auditor General, Democratic State Representative Eugene DePasquale of York County won a close race against fellow State Representative John Maher, a Republican from Allegheny County. DePasquale won more than 2.5 million votes to Maher’s 2.4 million, a difference of only three per cent. The incumbent Democrat, Jack Wagner, was limited by state law to two consecutive terms.
Democrat Rob McCord, the only incumbent in the row office races, held off a challenge by Diana Irey Vaughan, a Republican Washington County Commissioner. McCord won a second term with 2.7 million votes, more than 52 per cent of the votes cast. Irey Vaughan received 2.2 million votes. Libertarian candidate Patricia Fryman, captured 179,000 votes.
