Republicans sweep races for Pennsylvania row offices
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Republican candidates, including two incumbents, swept all three of Pennsylvania’s row offices.
Attorney General
In the race for attorney general, the Associated Press has called the race for York County’s Dave Sunday.
Sunday has amassed 51.08% of the votes counted as of 10 a.m., compared to 45.95% for Pittsburgh native Eugene DePasquale, according to unofficial results. Robert Cowburn, a Libertarian, had collected nearly 1.29% of the votes counted to lead the race’s four third-party candidates, the tallies showed.
As of 10 a.m., more than 6.6 million ballots have been counted in that race, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Sunday, 49, a Republican, is in his second term as York County’s district attorney and has served as a prosecutor for 15 years. Before becoming district attorney, Sunday rose to become the office’s chief deputy prosecutor and supervised major crime cases and the felony narcotics unit.
DePasquale, 53, a Democrat, previously served two terms as Pennsylvania’s auditor general and three terms as a 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.
Auditor General
In the race for auditor general, the New York Times is reporting Republican incumbent Auditor General Tim DeFoor has won with 51.4% of the votes counted as of 10 a.m. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, garnered 45.67% of the vote, according to the unofficial results. Reece Smith, a Libertarian, had collected 1.81% of the votes counted to lead three third-party candidates, the tallies showed.
DeFoor, 62, of Dauphin County, became auditor general after winning the 2020 race by about 3 percentage points. He previously served four years as Dauphin County’s controller and has more than 30 years of experience as a special investigator with the state Office of Inspector General, as a special agent with the state Attorney General’s Office in the private sector and federal government.
Kenyatta, 34, became the first openly gay person of color to serve in the state House when he was elected six years ago. He is simultaneously seeking a fourth term as state representative in addition to running for auditor general. He finished third in the 2022 Democratic Primary race for U.S. Senate.
State Treasurer
In the race for state treasurer, the Times reports that Republican incumbent Treasurer Stacy Garrity will retain her office with 52.2% of the vote, compared to 45.37% for Harrison Democrat Erin McClelland, according to the unofficial results. Nickolas Ciesielski, a Libertarian, had collected about 1.45% of the votes counted to lead three third-party candidates, the tallies showed.
Garrity, 60, of Bradford County, is a retired Army Reserve colonel and three-tour Iraq veteran. She was serving as vice president of a tungsten smelting plant when she beat incumbent Democratic Treasurer Joe Torsella by less than a percentage point four years ago. McClelland, 49, is a former congressional candidate with a background in mental health and substance abuse counseling.
The Associated Press contributed.