The Office of Attorney General of the State of Pennsylvania is expansive and critically important. The next person you elect to that position has to be ready to lead a state agency, and handle investigations on everything from consumer scams to violent crime, from the defense of your reproductive rights to your voting rights.
I’m Eugene DePasquale and I’m ready for that heavy workload because I’ve carried it before as your auditor general. During my two terms in that chief investigatory office, I rooted out $2 billion in wasted, misspent, or stolen state dollars; I eliminated the backlog of rape kits which helped take violent sexual predators off our streets; I worked with counties to make sure that every call to the child abuse hotline was answered and handled; and I recommended state policy changes to marijuana laws so we could catch up with other states and reap the financial benefit of a regulated, taxed cannabis market.
I’ll be honest, sometimes I got criticized for doing too much in that office, but I believe that Pennsylvanians elected me because they wanted their dollars protected and I was committed to using every power of that office to look out for you. If you want someone who is going to sit back and let cases and investigations land in their lap, I’m not your guy – I will not rest in protecting Pennsylvanians.
After my terms were up, I went back to the private sector and was happy to work and get some quiet time. But I saw the direction this state and country were heading and the stakes felt too high to stay on the sidelines. Our criminal justice system isn’t working. Too many scams are impacting our older Pennsylvanians, we’re failing on the opioid crisis, and our rights are under attack. We need a tough, independent fighter who will put Pennsylvanians first and get the job done right. That’s why I’m running to be your next attorney general.
No one else in this race has run a large state agency and if you elect me, I am ready to start day one making sure our communities are safer, your rights are safeguarded, and put politics aside to fight for Pennsylvania’s working families. When I was auditor general, I didn’t care if you were a Republican, Democrat, or independent–if you were stealing from Pennsylvania, I wasn’t going to let anyone get away with it. I stood up to leaders of my own party even when I knew there would be political consequences for me, but they didn’t elect me – you did. That’s how I’m going to approach the Attorney General’s Office.
It’s never mattered to me who the bullies are or where the bad actors are. I’ll find them and I’ll stand up to them for you. You saw me do it once, and I’m humbly asking you to let me fight for your family again.
Please follow DVJournal on social media: X@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal
