Former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and York DA Dave Sunday face off to become Pa.’s next attorney general

Pennsylvania on Tuesday is choosing its next attorney general, the state’s top prosecutor and chief law enforcement officer tasked with investigating corruption, enforcing the state’s laws, and representing the state’s interests nationally.

Voters will make their choice between Democrat Eugene DePasquale, a former state auditor general, and Dave Sunday, York County’s district attorney.

Both candidates view the office differently. DePasquale, 54, of Pittsburgh, knows his way around Harrisburg bureaucracy as a former auditor general and state representative and wants to take a proactive role in protecting Pennsylvanians. Sunday, 49, of York, is a career prosecutor who has tried thousands of criminal cases with a focus on redemption and accountability.

» READ MORE: Meet Eugene DePasquale and Dave Sunday, the front-runners to be Pa.’s next attorney general

State attorneys general have played an increasingly important role in national politics in recent years. Republican attorneys general have thwarted Biden’s student debt relief plan and other policies, while Democratic attorney generals led the legal fight against former President Donald Trump during his presidency, including Gov. Josh Shapiro — who was Pennsylvania’s attorney general while Trump was in office.

Sunday has said he believes it’s the legislature’s role to write the laws and would take a conservative approach to challenging state and federal laws. He opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana, supports Pennsylvania’s current law for abortion access up to 24 weeks, and sees the opioid crisis to be the top issue in the state. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, the city’s progressive prosecutor, previously alluded that he and Sunday would have an adversarial relationship.

DePasquale has promised to take a proactive and expansive approach to the office to protect Pennsylvanians. He plans to apply this outlook on issues like abortion, in which he believes Pennsylvania’s constitution already gives residents the right to an abortion. Pennsylvania law allows for abortions up to 24 weeks of gestation, while some neighboring states like Ohio and West Virginia have greatly restricted the procedure.

The candidates have been in a multi-million dollar fight to win the office, fighting for airtime beside the more than $500 million presidential candidates spent in Pennsylvania, as well as a competitive U.S. Senate race between U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick. Sunday outspent DePasquale by at least two-to-one, according to the latest campaign finance reports.