In a Democratic primary with a ballot otherwise dominated by names from the eastern part of the state — starting with Scranton native Joe Biden — Eugene DePasquale stands out as one of just two Allegheny County candidates running statewide.
And he’s hoping that helps him in his bid to be the state’s next attorney general.
The AG serves as the state’s top law enforcement official and sits on a state pardons board. The office handles only a small set of criminal cases, but it defends the commonwealth in court while handling consumer protection and other cases.
Since Josh Shapiro left the post to become the state’s governor last year, the job has been held by a caretaker, Michelle Henry. (Henry pledged not to run for the seat, in keeping with a longstanding tradition in state government.) Five Democrats and two Republicans are seeking the post.
A Pittsburgh native from a political family, DePasquale returned to the area to teach at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to that, he lived in York, where he served as a state representative, two terms as state Auditor General, and, later, as an unsuccessful challenger to Trump-aligned Republican Congressman Scott Perry. He’d been openly pondering a run for more than a year, but the field of hopefuls for the office is crowded and includes:
- Keir Bradford Gray, of Philadelphia, the only public defender seeking the seat in either party
- Joe Khan, a Bucks County who has previously worked as a county solicitor, assistant U.S. Attorney and county prosecutor
- State Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia, whose background in law includes work as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Army Reserve
- Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, who previously worked in the state Treasurer’s office and as an assistant U.S. Attorney.
Each of the candidates drew upon political strengths: Solomon and Stollsteimer were top fundraisers who also attracted union support, for example, while Bradford Gray has been backed by progressive groups that include the Working Families Party.
DePasquale drew backing from elected officials and local Democratic committees, but alongside his name on the ballot appeared the name of Allegheny County — long regarded as a potential advantage in a race where candidates stood to divide up vote-rich southeastern Pennsylvania between them.
On the Republican side, York County prosecutor Dave Sunday has the backing of the GOP establishment over state Rep. Craig Williams of Delaware County.
The race for attorney general is likely to be hotly contested and could have national implications: Shapiro’s 2016 win put him in a position to challenge President Donald Trump on a number of initiatives. And Shapiro isn’t the only AG to move on to even loftier positions: Republican Tom Corbett also followed up his stint in the office by being elected governor.
Still, there are two other statewide contests in which Democrats hope to topple a Republican incumbent.
Auditor general
Two Democrats — both from the eastern part of the state but bringing very different perspectives to the race — competed to challenge Republican incumbent Tim DeFoor for the job of being the state’s fiscal watchdog.
Philadelphia’s Malcolm Kenyatta was first elected to the state House in 2018 and is probably best known to voters in Western Pennsylvania as one of John Fetterman’s rivals in the 2022 Senate race. Kenyatta was the first openly gay Black member of the House when he was elected, and he has been a progressive firebrand since, often mocking Republicans on the House floor.
Kenyatta’s background has been in political advocacy more than number-crunching. But he’s said that growing up poor in Philadelphia has given him a perspective and zeal to ensure government functions as it should.
“I’ve seen what happens when government doesn’t work,” he told a gathering of East End Democrats last month. Pleading to be not just a watchdog but a “public advocate,” he said he’d create a bureau to monitor labor standards.
Mark Pinsley already serves as the Lehigh County Controller, a post that is the down-ballot equivalent of auditor general. Pinsley built his campaign around that experience, which includes holding an MBA and a background in the private sector.
“I am the only one in the race that is currently doing the job of auditor general,” he told the East End audience during his own turn at the microphone.
Pinsley stressed that he hadn’t just been counting beans: He has boasted of moving county deposits from a bank whose executives donated to candidates who oppose abortion rights, and of having helped to elevate Democrats to leadership posts in once-red Lehigh.
DeFoor is running unopposed on the Republican ballot.
State Treasurer
Along with DePasquale, Erin McClelland is Allegheny County’s other contender in the statewide ballot this spring – but her rival lives just a couple of hours up Interstate 79.
State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro has represented Erie in the state House for more than a decade and has garnered the endorsement of the state Democratic Party. McClelland is a mental health and substance abuse counselor who worked as a contractor for Allegheny County. She has previously run unsuccessful campaigns for Allegheny County Executive and Congress, twice winning the party’s nomination but losing to the Republican incumbent.
Both have criticized incumbent Treasurer Stacy Garrity for factors that include her close ties to Donald Trump. But their own primary battle was contentious, involving questions about McClelland’s campaign finance reports and Bizzarro’s decade-old support for a bill that would prevent state insurance exchanges from covering most abortions.
