PA Attorney General 2012- the Democrats

We have 3 announced candidates so far with former Philadelphia DA Lynn Abraham mulling a bid.

No Democrat has won this office since since attorney general became an elected post in 1980. Being elected attorney general does not necessarily position someone to run for higher office but it did become a launching pad for two gubernatorial candidates: Mike Fisher, who lost to Ed Rendell in 2002, and Governor Tom Corbett who used his office for political prosecutions that concentrated more on the misdeeds of Democrats than Republicans as Casablanca

PA has documented.

Philly lawyer Dan McCaffery (no website I can find) lost the DA's race in the city of brotherly love in 2009. He is getting some early love from Congressman and Philadelphia Dem chair Bob Brady but Lynn may be calling Bob to survey the field. He is the brother of PA Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery who became famous for presiding over Eagle's Court.

From our backyard Scranton native Kathleen Kane is in the hunt touting her experience as a Lackawanna County assistant district attorney.

From her website:


Born and raised in Scranton PA, Kathleen’s working class upbringing contributes heavily to her work ethic. A graduate of the Scranton public school system, Kathleen continued her education at The University of Scranton and Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia. Her legal career began with civil litigation with the firm of Post & Schell, P.C. in Philadelphia before returning home to accept a position as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office.

The frontrunner at this point has to be former Congressman Patrick Murphy.

He went to King's College here in Wilkes-Barre and his brother JJ worked for the city. Murphy was a Captain in the 82nd Airborne and a JAG in Iraq. After he was elected to Congress he led the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the discriminatory policy that prevented gay men and women from serving openly in the military. I was in the military in the 1970's and we knew who was gay but didn't give a shit. All that mattered was if you could do your job.

From Muphy's website:


The Attorney General should be the people's protector. As Attorney General, Patrick will stop at nothing to keep our families safe and hold criminals accountable.

Patrick Murphy was inspired by his father, a 22 year veteran of the Philadelphia police department, to dedicate his life to enforcing the law and protecting Pennsylvanians. On September 12, 2001, Patrick volunteered for combat to help bring to justice the terrorists responsible for killing innocent Americans. As a federal and military prosecutor, he put dangerous criminals behind bars, including terrorists bent on killing American soldiers.

Patrick knows no one is above the law – especially not corporations or their friends in Harrisburg.


Pennsylvania attorney general's race is off to a crowded start

Murphy, who lost his congressional seat to Republican Mike Fitzpatrick in the fall, has positioned himself as the Democrat to beat, raising $500,000 in six weeks and racking up endorsements from unions, local party leaders, and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams.

"I'm running hard," said Murphy, 37, an Iraq war veteran. "I will not be outworked."

Murphy has been taking something of a victory lap on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't tell.

From his Facebook page:

Wow. What an incredible day. My favorite moments by far were the calls I made to the heroes kicked out of the military they loved because of DADT. It is amazing how many of them want to sign back up. Absolutely inspirational.

He has a lot of support in Luzerne County and will be at Blogfest tomorrow.