DePasquale Leads Democrats in State AG Race

Eugene DePasquale, a former two-term state auditor general, appears to be firmly in the lead of the five-way Democratic race for state attorney general. Despite having less money to spend that Joe Khan or Jack Stollsteimer, he is the only candidate with western Pa roots. The other four are from the Philadelphia area and appear to have canceled each other out. 

Though my vote went for Jack Stollsteimer, I was very impressed by DePasquale when he was auditor general. He was willing to blow the whistle on the state's failure to answer one of five calls for suspected child abuse or neglect even though it made him unpopular with then Governor Wolf. 

Brown Raises $68K in Auditor General Race

Brown with Trump cutout

Northampton County Executive John Brown, who has challenged incumbent Eugene DePasquale for state auditor general, has stepped up his fundraising. In his 6th Tuesday pre-election report, which covers the period between May 17 and September 19, he reports $35,970.40 in contributions. This is slightly more than the $32,477.20 he raised between January 1 and May 16.

Brown's report, which is due today, is unavailable on the state website. But he is required to file in his county of residence as well as with Harrisburg. He filed a report with the Northampton County elections office yesterday.

In addition to the cash, Brown reports $2,744.31 in in-kind contributions from the state Republican party. This is on top of nearly $14,000 in in-kind contributions already received, and is being used for campaign literature.

Brown reports 20 contributions of $1,000 or more, including $2,000 from the Republican Caucus of County Commissioners and yet another $2000 from a PAC calling itself the Northeast Leadership Fund, which is based in Wilkes-Barre.

This Northeast Leadership Fund is funded by attorneys, developers and engineers who are obviously looking for "leaders" who will do as they're told. Louis DeNaples (you may have heard of him) kicked in $5000 to this PAC, but Matt Cartwright kicked in $1000, too. It appears to be a PAC interested in money and developers, not ideology.

State Senator Pat Browne gave $1,400 to this PAC. Two of Brown's cronies, Matt Deibert and Glenn Geissinger also kicked in $2,000 each.

Glenn Geissinger is a member of Northampton County Council, which is supposed to be a check and balance on the Executive. But Geissinger has been Brown's biggest cheerleader.

In addition to contributing $2,000 to a PAC that gave Brown $2,000, Geissinger reached into his pocket and gave Brown another $1,000.

Another troubling contribution to Brown is $1,000 from Lehigh County DA Jim Martin.

In April, Northampton County's Gaming Authority awarded $407,000 to Martin's pet project, the Regional Intelligence and Investigative Center (RIIC), which is also called a Regional Crime Center. Brown's Sheriff, Dave Dalrymple, lobbied hard for the project. Martin's $1,000 contribution came in September, well after the award, but it does raise eyebrows.

Like Brown, DePasquale's 6th Tuesday report is still not online. But even without his most recent report, he has raised far more money than Brown. Up until May 17, he reported having raised $258,726 and was sitting on a $353,518.70 warchest. Brown has $8,600.

Other $1000 donors include GT Commonwealth PAC, David Master, Devlendra Amin, John McGeehan, David Lobach, Edwin Coranzo, Dhruv Acharya, Lou Pektor, Anthony Salvaggio, Curtiss Barnette, Charles Diacont, Dave Jaindl, Cynthia DiRenzo, Christine Toretti and Marcus Lemon.

Brown also owes $46,840.05.