Pennsylvania politicians vie for attorney general seat

The three candidates for Pennsylvania attorney general responded to questions during a job interview-style forum at Point Park University on Oct. 23., sharing what they would aim to accomplish if elected. Claire Thurston/ Junior Staffwriter

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, Spotlight PA and The Philadelphia Citizen co-hosted a live public interview with three of the candidates for Pennsylvania Attorney General. In the style of an “Ultimate Job Interview,” Democratic candidate Eugene DePasquale, Republican candidate Dave Sunday, and Forward Party candidate Eric Settle were asked questions about experience, temperament, and leadership style. 

Christopher Baxer, President and CEO of Spotlight PA, defined the organization as “a non-profit, non-partisan newsroom covering the state government and urgent statewide issues … to help voters make a choice in their best interest based on facts and reality.”

The Philadelphia Citizen Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Roxanne Patel Shepelavy defined the organization as “a non-profit, non-partisan solutions journalism outlet.” A manifestation of both organizations’ missions, “The Ultimate Job Interview” concept was created in 2023 by The Philadelphia Citizen.

“We found our political leaders were seldom asked the same kind of probing questions that reveal the core competency of everyday job applicants, like the kind of job interview that you and I have to have when we go for a job,” Shepelavy said, describing the motivation behind the concept’s creation.

The candidates were interviewed individually by a panel of interviewers. Katie Meyer, Government Editor for Spotlight PA, acted as moderator while Vice President of Communications and Corporate Responsibility at Duquesne Light Company, Christine Waller, and Vice President of Business Development at BEAM Collaborative, James Myers Jr., asked interview questions as they usually do in their actual lines of work. 

Katie Meyer stressed the power of the attorney general, saying, “Our most recent attorney general is the governor now, and the one before that went to prison.”

The Pennsylvania attorney general is the state’s chief law enforcement officer, and their duties include prosecuting crime on behalf of Pennsylvania such as organized crime, public corruption, representing Pennsylvania in actions brought by or against Pennsylvania, collecting taxes and debts owed Pennsylvania, and enforcing both consumer protection laws and antitrust laws.

Republican candidate Dave Sunday was interviewed first. He has been a prosecutor in York County for 17 years, and the district attorney there since 2018. 

Democratic candidate Eugene DePasquale was interviewed second. From 2007 until 2013, DePasquale was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Afterward, he was the Pennsylvania auditor general from 2013 until 2021. During this time, he was also adjunct Professor at first at Widener University Commonwealth Law School, and currently at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Forward Party candidate Eric L. Settle was a Republican and Deputy General Counsel to the Governor from 1995 until 1997 before taking a long break from government work to support his children. He worked in the private sector, first in healthcare and then in wealth management, before returning to politics to run for attorney general under the Forward Party. 

The Forward Party is an alternative political party founded in 2021 by former New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang and former governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman. Its goals include the reduction of political polarization, implementing ranked-choice voting, and defending the democratic process.

“The Forward Party says each candidate should decide for themselves what’s the middle for each of their various states,” Settle said of his position in the party. “It’s a national party, but I was asked to help try to establish it here in Pennsylvania.”

Officially establishing the party will require Settle to secure at least two percent of the vote in at least 10 of Pennsylvania’s counties. Previously a Republican candidate, Settle joined the Forward Party upon reentering public work, explaining, “the Republican Party that I’ve been a part of for so long had morphed into the party of Trump, and the party made me both uncomfortable and frankly, unelectable.”

The candidates were all asked about their connections to Pittsburgh as an ice-breaker question. Sunday responded that his mother worked at Erie Insurance’s Murrysville branch for about 8 years, his brother lives in Squirrel Hill, and he enjoys the city’s food, people, and beauty during his visits. DePasquale, a Pittsburgh native who currently resides here, responded that his favorite thing about Pittsburgh is its baseball team, the Pirates at PNC Park. Settle responded that he has family in Pittsburgh, and he’s loved visiting Kennywood Park with his kids — especially the roller coaster drops.

Each candidate was then asked about why they are interested in the role of attorney general as a growth opportunity for themselves in terms of their career journeys. 

Sunday described his past 17 years working as a prosecutor and district attorney in York, and professional appointments as Chief of Litigation, head of the felony drugs unit, head of the major crimes unit, and special appointed U.S. attorney. His key focus areas were the opioid epidemic, the mental health crisis, and re-entry of formerly incarcerated people into society.

For the first issue, Sunday co-founded the non-profit York Opioid Collaborative, saying that “the most meaningful part has always been the work that we’ve done to prevent crime.” For the second issue, he emphasized a need for more mental health facilities, saying, “Our prisons have become de facto warehouses for people with behavioral health problems.”

Sunday spoke most passionately about reentry, citing that 95 percent of incarcerated people re-enter society, and that the support he promoted in York saw a 41 percent crime rate drop. Sunday believes that now is the time for him to be attorney general because he wants to bring his past “collaborative success” to Pennsylvania with his leadership. 

DePasquale recounted his decision to run for attorney general, saying, “I was living my best life. I was out of public life for the first time in 14 years, making money in my private law practice, teaching at Pitt, doing a night law class at Widener, and was able to travel. And then I started thinking, 2024 is going to be such a critical election for the future of this country that we all had to do our part. And this is something I could do. I could run and I could be the attorney general.”

He pointed to his professional experience in running a complicated state agency, investigating 3,500 untested child rape cases, passing legislature against child rape, exposing school districts that wasted funds, suppressing corruption, and promoting bi-partisan accountability as qualifications for him to be Pennsylvania attorney general. 

Settle outlined his past opportunities to give back to Pennsylvania and framed the office of Pennsylvania attorney general as the next opportunity to do that. He mentioned his experience working under former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf in charge of healthcare and environmental divisions and his role as the lead lobbyist for Autism Speaks to help pass Act 62.

While running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 13th District as a Republican candidate, Settle’s career took a turn.

“One day, I was at my then-seven-year-old son’s soccer game, and I thought, if I’m running for Congress, I’ll be at everybody else’s kids soccer game but my own kid,” Settle said, hoping that a 20-year intermission from public service will end with his election as attorney general. 

Next, the candidates were each asked about how they would approach onboarding in the first 30, 60, and 90 days in office. Sunday highlighted the importance of relying on past experience, both his own and that of the office.

“It’s making sure the organization understands what my mission is, making sure that they understand what the expectations are, making sure they understand the work team and everybody works together,” he said.

DePasquale started not on day 30, but on day one, saying, “You’ve got to be prepared on day one, what likely would be the first order of businesses in regardless of who wins the election, there will be election lawsuits.”

His three immediate priorities were establishing working relationships, immediately launching investigations, and protecting reproductive freedom. DePasquale was the only candidate to mention reproductive rights as a priority.

Settle said that day one he would seek out a strong deputy who can supplement him in terms of prosecution experience, day two will be handling expected election lawsuits, and after that he would work towards his healthcare priorities. 

The candidates were each asked about how they would manage an office of over 1,000 employees in terms of work culture and mental health. Sunday described mental health effects on prosecutors for whom “vicarious trauma is an extremely real thing.”

In his York office, he mentioned bringing in therapists and therapy dogs, “employee wellness” being “literally one of the absolute most important things right now.” DePasquale said he will “care more about the staff than me and I’m going to care more about the public than me.” For the former, he described supporting unions as a leader, and for the latter, he described supporting mental health services in schools, which in turn reduces crime.

“Every single kid in the school districts, every single one said they need more mental health help,” DePasquale said.

Of his past leadership experiences, Settle said he learned that “you have to be respectful of people’s abilities. And as a leader, your job is to lead, but also to let them kind of do their jobs.”

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