ELECTION: Candidates for Attorney General

Today I'll take a look at the race for PA Attorney General. This is to replace Kathleen Kane and it's the only office on the ballot (not counting delegates) where voters in both parties have a choice of candidates (though, of course, you always have the option of writing in a candidate for any office).

On the Republican side, the contenders are Joe Peters and John Rafferty.

Joe Peters is the current Executive Deputy Attorney General, in charge of the Office’s Drug and Organized Crime Division. He's served in the Attorney General's office for 15 years. Before that he served in the White House Drug Czar's office under both W. Bush and Clinton. He was a Federal Prosecutor who worked on the Nicky Scarfo case. He began as a police officer in Scranton. You can read more about him at http://www.joepeters.com/

John Rafferty is currently a state senator, representing parts of Bucks, Chester and upper Montgomery Counties. He's held that office since 2003. He served as PA Deputy Attorney General, though more than 25 years ago, between 1988-1991. Before that, he was on the Methacton School Board. His website is http://www.raffertyforag.com/

If you're a Democrat, your choices are John Morganelli, Josh Shapiro and Stephen A. Zappala, Jr.

John Morganelli is District Attorney of Northhampton County and has served in that post since 1991. He has also been President of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys’ Association and has served as a Special Deputy Attorney General. His website is http://www.johnmorganelli.com/

Josh Shapiro is currently Chair of the Board of Commissioners for Montgomery County and has served as commissioner since 2012. From 2005 to 2012, he served as state rep for the 153rd district (Abington/Upper Dublin). He got his law degree in 2002. Besides being commissioner, he works as an attorney for Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, and Young, focusing on general corporate law, real estate and regulatory compliance. His website is https://www.joshshapiro.org/

Stephen Zappala has served as District Attorney for Allegheny County since 1998. Before that he worked at various law firms. According to Wikipedia, his career has been rather politically contentious. His website is zappalaforpa.com/ (which I had trouble getting to load).

So, there are your options. Remember, primary election day is next Tuesday, April 26. I'll review some of the other candidates this week. If you want to know about delegates, click here for last week's Diary.