York DA Dave Sunday wins Pa. attorney general race against former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale

Pennsylvania elected Republican Dave Sunday, York County’s district attorney, to be its next attorney general.

Sunday, 49, is a career prosecutor who promised to follow the law and take a conservative approach to the wide-ranging powers of the Attorney General’s Office.

He will be the state’s top prosecutor, tasked with investigating corruption, enforcing the state’s laws, and representing the state’s interests nationally in lawsuits against the federal government or major corporations. Sunday defeated Democrat Eugene DePasquale, a former state auditor general.

“I will work every single day for every single Pennsylvanian,” Sunday said in a phone interview early Wednesday morning. “I will work with everybody to do everything we can to increase public safety, to work on substance abuse issues and mental health issues.”

Sunday declared victory before midnight at his campaign party, hours before the Associated Press called the race for him Wednesday at 3:18 a.m. with 91.9% of the vote counted.

Sunday and DePasquale waged a multimillion-dollar fight for the open seat to reach voters through the more than $500 million spent on the presidential race in Pennsylvania, as well as a competitive and expensive U.S. Senate race. Sunday outspent DePasquale by at least 2-1 and was backed by the powerful Republican Attorneys General Association and a political action committee primarily funded by Pennsylvania’s richest man, Jeffrey Yass, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. (Sunday’s latest reports were not available as of Wednesday.)

The career prosecutor 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 as the top issue in the state. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, the city’s progressive prosecutor, previously suggested that he and Sunday would have an adversarial relationship if he won.

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

Sunday comes into the job with a self-defined mission of accountability and redemption that he focused on as DA. He hopes to implement some of his county’s successful intervention and prevention programs to address issues such as gang violence, mental health, addiction, and the root causes of recidivism.

Attorney General Michelle Henry, who was appointed to fulfill the remainder of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s term in office, will remain Pennsylvania’s chief law enforcement officer until Sunday is sworn in next year.

Sunday lives in York County with his wife and 9-year-old son, who got to stay up close to midnight to hear his dad give his acceptance speech.

Voters across Pennsylvania on Tuesday had little to say about Sunday or any down-ballot race. Most voters — Republican and Democrat — said the presidential race motivated them to vote straight-ticket for their preferred party, and did not know much about the attorney general’s race.

Benjamin Hickinbotham, a 43-year-old resident of Kennett Square, said he voted for a “straight Republican ticket,” with top issues including U.S.-Mexico border security, abortion, and the economy. And Rebecca Smucker, 33, of East Earl in Lancaster County, said she supported Trump and a full GOP ticket because she’s “ready for some normalcy.”

Jane Guyer, 43, of East Earl, said she voted a straight-Republican ticket but didn’t know much about the candidates down ballot besides Trump.

“I don’t really know about them,” Guyer said. “I follow the president.”

Staff writer Wendy Ruderman contributed to this article.