Current:Home > MarketsDemocratic Philadelphia state lawmaker joins race for Pennsylvania attorney general-LoTradeCoin
Democratic Philadelphia state lawmaker joins race for Pennsylvania attorney general
View Date:2024-12-23 16:19:55
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic state lawmaker Jared Solomon said Tuesday that he will run in next year’s election for Pennsylvania attorney general, an office that has played a big role in fighting drug trafficking, suing opioid makers and defending the battleground state’s 2020 presidential election.
Solomon, who is from Philadelphia, is the fourth Democratic candidate to join the race for the state’s top law enforcement office, which will be vacant after the 2024 election.
Solomon said he would be an attorney general who can draw on his experience running a neighborhood-improvement group, practicing anti-trust law and going against political machines.
“This is taking it to a larger level and projecting that vision and experience and work ethic and fight for the whole commonwealth,” Solomon said in an interview.
Solomon, 44, was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2016 after beating out a 42-year Democratic incumbent. He previously joined the Army, became a defense lawyer in the Pennsylvania National Guard and worked as a lawyer in private practice.
In the state House this year, he supported major legislation brought up by Democratic leadership, including a measure to raise the state minimum wage to $15 by 2026, broaden protections for LGBTQ+ people and let authorities temporarily seize someone’s firearms in an effort to prevent suicide deaths, domestic violence and day-to-day violence.
Before that, he became the House Democrats’ appointee in a Republican effort to impeach Philadelphia’s twice-elected district attorney, Larry Krasner. Solomon called the GOP impeachment bid an “anti-democratic move to deny the votes of thousands of Philadelphians.”
Three other Democrats — former state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, former federal prosecutor Joe Kahn and Keir Bradford-Grey, the former head of Philadelphia’s public defense lawyers — already announced their candidacy for the Democratic nomination.
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination.
The attorney general’s office has a budget of about $120 million annually and has played a critical role in arresting drug traffickers, fighting gun trafficking, defending state laws in court and protecting consumers from predatory practices.
The office helped lead state attorneys general in settlement talks with pharmaceutical distributors and manufacturers over the opioid crisis. It also played a central role in defending the integrity of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election against repeated attempts to overturn it in state and federal courts by former President Donald Trump’s campaign and Republican allies.
Democrats have won the last three elections for attorney general.
The last elected attorney general was Democrat Josh Shapiro, who was elected last year to be governor. Shapiro stepped down as attorney general in January when he was sworn in as governor and appointed his top deputy, Michelle Henry, to finish the last two years of his term as attorney general.
Henry, a former Bucks County prosecutor, has said she does not plan to run for the office. Her term expires in January 2025.
___
Follow Marc Levy on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter: @timelywriter
veryGood! (4367)
Related
- Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
- Arizona tribe is protesting the decision not to prosecute Border Patrol agents for fatal shooting
- Now in theaters: A three-hour testament to Taylor Swift's titan era
- U.S. reopening facility near southern border to house unaccompanied migrant children
- Mason Bates’ Met-bound opera ‘Kavalier & Clay’ based on Michael Chabon novel premieres in Indiana
- 5 killed in Mexico prison riot. Authorities cite dispute between inmates
- Former congressional candidate convicted of spending campaign funds on business debts
- US says North Korea delivered 1,000 containers of equipment and munitions to Russia for Ukraine war
- Who will be in the top 12? Our College Football Playoff ranking projection
- UAW strikes are working, and the Kentucky Ford plant walkout could turn the tide
Ranking
- Utah AD Mark Harlan fined $40,000 for ripping referees and the Big 12 after loss to BYU
- Israel tells a million Gazans to flee south to avoid fighting, but is that possible?
- This week on Sunday Morning (October 15)
- Dean McDermott Holds Hands With Lily Calo After Tori Spelling Breakup
- Olivia Munn Says She “Barely Knew” John Mulaney When She Got Pregnant With Their Son
- 11 sent to hospital after ammonia leak at Southern California building
- How inflation's wrath is changing the way Gen Z spends money
- Hornets’ Miles Bridges turns himself in after arrest warrant issued over protection order
Recommendation
-
Pistons' Ausar Thompson cleared to play after missing 8 months with blood clot
-
France investigates suspected poisoning of Russian journalist who staged on-air protest against Ukraine war
-
Ban on electronic skill games in Virginia reinstated by state Supreme Court
-
Kaiser Permanente workers have tentative deal after historic strike
-
Man killed in Tuskegee University shooting in Alabama is identified. 16 others were hurt
-
Hospitals in Gaza are in a dire situation and running out of supplies, say workers
-
Jason Kennedy and Lauren Scruggs Welcome Baby No. 2
-
Workers with in-person jobs spend about $51 a day that they wouldn't remotely, survey finds