Pennsylvania Attorney General election, 2024

	← 2020
Pennsylvania Attorney General
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: February 13, 2024
	Primary: April 23, 2024; General: November 5, 2024; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Michelle Henry (D)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Pennsylvania
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2024; Impact of term limits in 2024; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
Pennsylvania; executive elections
	Attorney General; Auditor; Treasurer

Pennsylvania 2024 elections

U.S. Senate - U.S. House - Attorney General - State executive offices - State Senate - State House - Special state legislative - Local ballot measures - How to run for office

Eugene DePasquale (D), Dave Sunday (R) and four other candidates are running in the November 5 general election for Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

In the 2020 general election, Josh Shapiro (D) defeated Heather Heidelbaugh (R) 50.9% to 46.3%. Shapiro appointed Michelle Henry (D) attorney general after he was elected governor in 2022. Henry is not running for election in 2024.

Pennsylvania's attorney general is the state's chief law enforcement officer. The office's duties include prosecuting organized crime and public corruption, collecting debts, taxes, and accounts due to the state, and representing Pennsylvania and its agencies in court.^[1]

DePasquale was Pennsylvania's Auditor General from 2013 to 2021. Previously, he served in the state House and chaired the York County Democratic Party. He is running on his record and personal story. DePasquale said, "People know I've got the spine to take on big corporations, big insurance companies, and to run complex investigations. And that's what I'll do as your attorney general."^[2]

DePasquale said his key accomplishments as auditor general included finding 3,000 untested rape kits and 50,000 unanswered phone calls at the child abuse hotline.^[3] As attorney general, he said his first priority would be protecting democracy and making sure every vote is counted as well as protecting "abortion rights, protecting consumers, protecting our environment and also making sure that we have public safety across the state."^[3]

Sunday has been York County's District Attorney since 2018. He previously served in the U.S. Navy and is running on his record as a prosecutor. On his campaign website, Sunday listed a 30% decrease in crime during his first term, and a 40% reduction in the prison population since its peak among his accomplishments as district attorney.^[4]

Sunday said his top priority is the opioid epidemic: "My philosophy of criminal justice is accountability and redemption. You have to have both. You must hold people accountable, but on the other side of it, we have to embrace redemption, and we have to do work that encompasses prevention as well." ^[5]

Justin Magill (Constitution Party), Eric Settle (Forward Party), Richard Weiss (G), and Rob Cowburn (L) are also running in the race for attorney general.

Pennsylvania has a divided government where neither party holds triplex control. Ballotpedia defines a triplex as when one political party holds the offices of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Pennsylvania has a Democratic governor and attorney general and a Republican secretary of state. The attorney general's office is the only one of the three offices up for election in 2024.

Pennsylvania has five statewide elections in 2024, including races for President, U.S. Senate, Attorney General, Auditor General, and Treasurer. In 2020, Pennsylvania had four statewide elections. That year, Joe Biden (D) defeated Donald Trump (R) 50% to 48.8% in the race for President, Timothy DeFoor (R) defeated Nina Ahmad (D) 49.4% to 46.3% in the race for Auditor General, Josh Shapiro (D) defeated Heather Heidelbaugh (R) 50.9% to 46.3% in the race for Attorney General, and Stacy Garrity (R) defeated Joseph Torsella (D) 48.7% to 47.9% in the race for Treasurer.

Ten states are holding attorney general elections in 2024. All 50 states have an attorney general who serves as the state's chief legal officer. Heading into the 2024 elections, there are 22 Democratic, 27 Republican, and one independent attorney general. To read more about attorney general elections happening in 2024, click here.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Attorney General of Pennsylvania

The following candidates are running in the general election for Attorney General of Pennsylvania on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Eugene DePasquale (D)
		Dave Sunday (R)
		Justin Magill (Constitution Party)
		Eric Settle (Forward Party)
		Richard Weiss (G)
		Rob Cowburn (L)

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Pennsylvania

Eugene DePasquale defeated Jack Stollsteimer, Joe Khan, Keir Bradford-Grey, and Jared Solomon in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Pennsylvania on April 23, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Eugene DePasquale	35.2	371,911
	Jack Stollsteimer	20.1	212,413
	Joe Khan	15.9	167,895
	Keir Bradford-Grey	15.2	160,369
	Jared Solomon	13.1	137,920
	Other/Write-in votes	0.4	4,577

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,055,085
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of Pennsylvania

Dave Sunday defeated Craig Williams in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Pennsylvania on April 23, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Dave Sunday	69.9	620,515
	Craig Williams	29.5	261,419
	Other/Write-in votes	0.6	5,282

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 887,216
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Katayoun Copeland (R)

Voting information

See also: Voting in Pennsylvania

Election information in Pennsylvania: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Oct. 21, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 21, 2024
Online: Oct. 21, 2024

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Oct. 29, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 29, 2024
Online: Oct. 29, 2024

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Received by Nov. 5, 2024

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

Varies to Oct. 29, 2024

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Eugene DePasquale

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Pennsylvania Auditor General (2013-2021)
Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 95 (2007–2013)

Biography: DePasquale received a bachelor's degree in political science from The College of Wooster, a master's degree in public administration from The University of Pittsburgh, and a law degree from Widener Law School. Before holding elected office, he was the City of York's director of economic development and deputy secretary for Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

DePasquale ran on his record as Auditor General: "I took on a lot of tough investigations that protected the people of Pennsylvania whether that be child abuse, sexual assault, even finding waste in Harrisburg, and I think those type of skills are exactly what the people of Pennsylvania need to make sure we protect our democracy, protect abortion rights, protect our environment, and track down these criminals that are trying to scam our seniors."

Having had a father who struggled with addiction and a brother who had muscular dystrophy, DePasquale said, "A lot of these battles are personal to me, whether it comes to addiction, gun violence, what happened to my dad... I'm going to make sure that I'm taking those big interests on to fight for everyday Pennsylvanians."

DePasquale said he would prioritize, "protecting democracy. If we don’t have that, then these other issues become a lot less relevant if we don’t have our democracy...Once we have that, certainly it’ll be abortion rights, protecting consumers, protecting our environment and also making sure that we have public safety across the state."

Show sources

Sources: PCNTV, "On The Issues: Eugene DePasquale (2/21/2024)", February 21, 2024; City and State Pennsylvania, "‘These fights are personal to me’: A Q&A with AG candidate Eugene DePasquale," March 29, 2024; LinkedIn, "Eugene DePasquale," accessed August 20, 2024

Dave Sunday

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

York County District Attorney (Assumed office: 2018)

Biography: Sunday received a bachelor's degree from Penn State University and a law degree from Widener Law School. He previously served in the U.S. Navy and was the Chief Deputy Prosecutor of Litigation in the York County District Attorney's office.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Sunday ran on his experience as a prosecutor: "The attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer for the state. You absolutely, hands down, need an attorney general who understands the entire criminal justice system from the bottom all the way to the top, and that's me. I've done everything from the lowest of the low prosecutor worked my way up all the way to twice elected district attorney general. I've addressed the opioid epidemic, I've addressed mental health. I have also prosecuted many murderers."

Sunday said he would collaborate with government and community organizations: "As a District Attorney, I have a proven track record of bringing people together to bring about change in our communities through collaborative efforts with our local police, churches, health systems and community leaders to combat crime in York. I will bring that experience with me to the Attorney General’s office to bring accountability and redemption to our criminal justice system."

Sunday said he would address both the supply and demand sides of the opioid epidemic: "My philosophy of criminal justice is accountability and redemption. You have to have both. You must hold people accountable, but on the other side of it, we have to embrace redemption, and we have to do work that encompasses prevention as well."

Show sources

Sources: PCNTV, "On The Issues: Dave Sunday (2/21/2024)," February 21, 2024; City and State Pennsylvania, "‘If our community’s not safe, nothing else matters’: A Q&A with York County DA and attorney general candidate Dave Sunday," March 25, 2024; Committee of Seventy, "Dave Sunday," accessed September 3, 2024; Dave Sunday 2024 campaign website, "About," accessed August 21, 2024

Eric Settle

Party: Forward Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "I am a lawyer, a husband and a dad who looks for opportunities to help make a difference in his community. I have been very lucky that in several chapters of my life, I have done just that including my work for Governor Tom Ridge as Deputy General Counsel, as President of Main Line Reform Temple and most recently as part of Govenor Josh Shapiro's transition team. But I am most proud of my successful effort for the successful passage of Act 62, a law that requires insurance companies to pay for services for kids with autism. Using all the unique skills that I had developed in the Governor's office and as a general counsel in the health insurance industry, I was able to work with autism advocates, impacted families and legislative leaders of both parties (including now Governor Shapiro and Senate Majority Leader Pittman) to create a law that improved the lives of tens of thousands of Pennsylvania children and their families. And 16 years later, it is satisfying to know that Act 62 is still there to help a family who today learns that they are impacted by this difficult condition. It reminds all of us that government can make a real difference in the lives of its citizens and as Attorney General, I will continue my record of service and use all my talents developed in the public and private sector to make a difference in the lives of all Pennsylvanians."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Keeping Pennsylvanians Safe. My most important goal to ensure that the Office of Attorney General uses all of it resources to make sure that Pennsylvanians are safe. The Attorney General has direct responsibility for investigating and prosecuting drug trafficking, child predators, organized crime and public corruption. It is also important that as AG, I work to reduce the number of illegal guns on the streets which are often the direct cause of the violence that citizens are experiencing.

Protecting Democracy. In the wake of January 6, we can no longer take for granted that the results of elections will be honored. As an independent Attorney General who is not beholden to either major party, I will make sure that election challenges are handled fairly and that the proper winner of any election will be recognized as the elected official. The next Attorney General may oversee a contest over the Presidential election of 2024, which may turn on Pennsylvania’s results.

Protecting Healthcare Access. As Attorney General, I will have direct jurisdiction over charitable assets including non-profit hospitals. I am very concerned about the acquisition of Pennsylvania’s non-profit hospitals by For-profit entities. Pennsylvania has a bad track record in this area and as someone with years of experience in the healthcare industry, I will make sure that if such acquisitions are necessary to preserve health care resources, these For-profit entities will be subject to careful supervision.

Richard Weiss

Party: Green Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "I'm a native born Pennsylvanian. I grew up working in the family bakery business. I've worked for the federal government and I've worked for private firms overseas. I have both a local and global perspective."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

I believe Pennsylvanians want clean water, clean air, and to avoid cancer. If elected, I will pursue those responsible for over half a million uncapped fracking wells in Pennsylvania and require owners of currently active wells to set aside funds for capping.

I believe Pennsylvanians want to reduce crime, lower costs to taxpayers, protect consumers, renters, workers, the uninsured, the unhoused, those discriminated against and the disabled. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Prison slave laborers in Pennsylvania work for corporations for pennies per hour, while their incarceration, food, healthcare, guards, etc. are paid for by taxpayers. Migrants aren't taking anyone's job, prison slave laborers are. Require payment of market rates for work of inmates. Incarceration will go down when it is no longer profitable.

I believe Pennsylvanians want their politicians not to be corrupt by taking gifts. As PA Attorney General I will pursue public officials to refuse or return gifts they receive. I will not be partisan.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

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Eric Settle (Forward)

Keeping Pennsylvanians Safe. My most important goal to ensure that the Office of Attorney General uses all of it resources to make sure that Pennsylvanians are safe. The Attorney General has direct responsibility for investigating and prosecuting drug trafficking, child predators, organized crime and public corruption. It is also important that as AG, I work to reduce the number of illegal guns on the streets which are often the direct cause of the violence that citizens are experiencing.

Protecting Democracy. In the wake of January 6, we can no longer take for granted that the results of elections will be honored. As an independent Attorney General who is not beholden to either major party, I will make sure that election challenges are handled fairly and that the proper winner of any election will be recognized as the elected official. The next Attorney General may oversee a contest over the Presidential election of 2024, which may turn on Pennsylvania’s results.

Protecting Healthcare Access. As Attorney General, I will have direct jurisdiction over charitable assets including non-profit hospitals. I am very concerned about the acquisition of Pennsylvania’s non-profit hospitals by For-profit entities. Pennsylvania has a bad track record in this area and as someone with years of experience in the healthcare industry, I will make sure that if such acquisitions are necessary to preserve health care resources, these For-profit entities will be subject to careful supervision.

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Pennsylvania, 2024
District	Incumbent	Party	PVI
Pennsylvania's 1st	Brian Fitzpatrick	Republican	Even
Pennsylvania's 2nd	Brendan Boyle	Democratic	D+20
Pennsylvania's 3rd	Dwight Evans	Democratic	D+39
Pennsylvania's 4th	Madeleine Dean	Democratic	D+7
Pennsylvania's 5th	Mary Gay Scanlon	Democratic	D+14
Pennsylvania's 6th	Chrissy Houlahan	Democratic	D+5
Pennsylvania's 7th	Susan Wild	Democratic	R+2
Pennsylvania's 8th	Matt Cartwright	Democratic	R+4
Pennsylvania's 9th	Dan Meuser	Republican	R+21
Pennsylvania's 10th	Scott Perry	Republican	R+5
Pennsylvania's 11th	Lloyd Smucker	Republican	R+13
Pennsylvania's 12th	Summer Lee	Democratic	D+8
Pennsylvania's 13th	John Joyce	Republican	R+25
Pennsylvania's 14th	Guy Reschenthaler	Republican	R+18
Pennsylvania's 15th	Glenn Thompson	Republican	R+21
Pennsylvania's 16th	Mike Kelly	Republican	R+13
Pennsylvania's 17th	Christopher Deluzio	Democratic	Even

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2024 district lines, Pennsylvania^[9]
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
Pennsylvania's 1st	51.8%	47.2%
Pennsylvania's 2nd	71.0%	28.3%
Pennsylvania's 3rd	90.2%	9.3%
Pennsylvania's 4th	58.9%	40.0%
Pennsylvania's 5th	65.7%	33.4%
Pennsylvania's 6th	56.8%	42.0%
Pennsylvania's 7th	49.7%	49.1%
Pennsylvania's 8th	48.0%	50.9%
Pennsylvania's 9th	31.0%	67.5%
Pennsylvania's 10th	47.2%	51.3%
Pennsylvania's 11th	38.6%	59.9%
Pennsylvania's 12th	59.4%	39.5%
Pennsylvania's 13th	26.8%	72.0%
Pennsylvania's 14th	33.7%	65.2%
Pennsylvania's 15th	30.8%	67.8%
Pennsylvania's 16th	39.0%	59.7%
Pennsylvania's 17th	52.3%	46.5%

County-level voting pattern categories
Democratic
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Democratic	D	D	D
Trending Democratic	R	D	D
Battleground Democratic	D	R	D
New Democratic	R	R	D
Republican
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Republican	R	R	R
Trending Republican	D	R	R
Battleground Republican	R	D	R
New Republican	D	D	R

Pennsylvania county-level statistics, 2020
Solid Democratic	10	47.2%
Solid Republican	53	41.7%
Battleground Democratic	2	4.5%
Trending Democratic	1	4.1%
Trending Republican	1	2.5%
Total voted Democratic	13	55.8%
Total voted Republican	54	44.2%

U.S. Senate election results in Pennsylvania
Race	Winner	Runner up
2022	51.2%	46.3%
2018	55.7%	42.6%
2016	48.9%	47.2%
2012	53.7%	44.6%
2010	51.0%	49.0%
Average	53.6	44.9

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Pennsylvania
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	9	11
Republican	0	8	8
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	17	19

State executive officials in Pennsylvania, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Josh Shapiro
Lieutenant Governor	Austin Davis
Secretary of State	Al Schmidt
Attorney General	Michelle Henry

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	22
	Republican Party	28
	Independent	0
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		50

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D

Demographic Data for Pennsylvania
	Pennsylvania	United States
Population	13,002,700	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	44,741	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	77.1%	65.9%
Black/African American	10.8%	12.5%
Asian	3.6%	5.8%
Native American	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander	0%	0.2%
Two or more	5.1%	8.8%
Hispanic/Latino	8.1%	18.7%
Education
High school graduation rate	91.7%	89.1%
College graduation rate	33.8%	34.3%
Income
Median household income	$73,170	$75,149
Persons below poverty level	8%	8.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Gubernatorial election results in Pennsylvania
Race	Winner	Runner up
2022	56.5%	41.7%
2018	57.8%	40.7%
2014	54.9%	45.1%
2010	54.5%	45.5%
2006	60.3%	39.6%
Average	56.2	43.1

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Josh Shapiro (D)	50.9	3,461,472
	Heather Heidelbaugh (R)	46.3	3,153,831
	Daniel Wassmer (L)	1.8	120,489
	Richard Weiss (G)	1.0	70,804

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Shapiro	100.0	1,429,414

Pennsylvania Attorney General, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Josh Shapiro	51.39%	3,057,010
	Republican	John Rafferty	48.61%	2,891,325
Total Votes				5,948,335
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,806,596
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,429,414
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,055,168
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

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Pennsylvania Attorney General election, 2024