State Offices Candidate Guide 2012

State Attorney General

Chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

David Freed (Attorney General Candidate)

Website:        www.davidfreedforag.com

Phone:            717-230-1514

Bio:                 David resides in Cumberland County, PA with his wife Amy and their three children.

Education:    David is a 1988 graduate of Camp Hill High School in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University and his J.D. from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law

Experience:    15 year prosecutor and Cumberland County’s District Attorney since 2006.

1. Accessibility? Good. He has a website. He also has a contact button and phone# right on his website.

2. Term Limits? There is already a 2 term limit (4 yrs each term) for the Attorney General position.

3. Pro-Life? Yes. He clearly states his intent to protect the sanctity of human life on his website. He is endorsed by People for Life.

4. Pro-2^nd Amendment? Yes. He clearly states his support of the 2^nd amendment on his website. He is endorsed by FOAC and NRA gives him a grade A.

Kathleen Kane (Attorney General Candidate)

Website:        www.kathleengkane.com

Phone:            570-580-0860

Bio:                 Kathleen resides in Lackawanna County, PA with her husband Chris and two sons.

Education:    Graduated from Scranton public school. Continued her education at The University of Scranton and Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia.

Experience:    She has prosecuted for the past 12 years. Her legal career began with civil litigation with the firm of Post & Schell, P.C. in Philadelphia before returning home to accept a position as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office.

1. Accessibility? Okay. She has a website. She has contact info in a tiny font at bottom of website.

2. Term Limits? There is already a 2 term limit (4 yrs each term) for the Attorney General position.

3. Pro-Life? No. She doesn’t address it on her website, but she is pro-abortion as reported in People for Life’s newsletter.

4. Pro-2^nd Amendment? No. She does not have any info about this on her website but FOAC does not endorse her and she did not reply to NRA’s questionnaire.

Summary: I like both candidates. David Freed’s website is clearly more organized and more informative. David responded to the Pennsylvania Family Council Questionnaire and NRA Questionnaire. Kathleen did not reply to the Pennsylvania Family Council and NRA Questionnaire.

State Auditor General

Chief fiscal officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

John Maher (Auditor General candidate)

Website:        www.cpaforpa.com

Phone:            412-407-7879                                                

Bio:                 No information on website but I assume he resides in Allegheny County, Pa.

Education:       magna cum laude graduate of Duke University with an A.B. degree in Management Sciences/Accounting. Also completed scholarship studies at Oxford University and the Australian Graduate School of Management.

Experience:     Certified Public Accountant for nearly 30 years. John launched and ran a large CPA firm that was dedicated specifically to auditing in PA. In 1997, he was elected to House of Representatives. He is currently a state representative for Allegheny County.

1. Accessibility? Good. He has a contact button clearly displayed on his website.

2. Term Limits? There is already a 2 term limit (4 yrs each term) for the Auditor General position.

3. Pro-Life? Yes. Endorsed by People for Life and LIFE-Pac.

4. Pro-2^nd Amendment? Yes. Endorsed by FOAC. He got a grade of B+ from NRA.

Eugene Depasquale (Auditor General candidate)

Website:        www.eugene4pa.com

Phone:            no phone # available

Bio:                 Resides in West Manchester Township (York County) with his wife Tracey and two children.

Education:         Graduated from College of Wooster in Ohio. Went to University of Pittsburgh for graduate school. Completed law school at Widener University in 2002.

Experience:     In 2003, assisted Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty in leading the charge for renewable energy (wind energy) in Pennsylvania. In 2006, he became a state representative in York County, Pa. Eugene was the first legislator to post his legislature expenses online. Eugene also had his Alternative Energy Investment Act signed into law by Ed Rendell.

1. Accessibility? Okay. He doesn’t have a phone# available for those who don’t have internet. He has a Contact button clearly displayed on his website but he has the following note on his Contact page “we’re not always able to provide a personal response, but we do appreciate your taking the time to fill out our feedback form below”. I have not seen that before on a Contact page.

2. Term Limits? There is already a 2 term limit (4 yrs each term) for the Auditor General position.

3. Pro-Life? No. He is pro-abortion as reported by People for Life.

4. Pro-2^nd Amendment? No. He is not endorsed by FOAC. NRA gave him a grade of C.

Summary: John Maher is the only candidate with any direct auditing experience but that doesn’t automatically make him more qualified than his opponent. John Maher replied to the PA Family Voter’s Guide and Eugene Depasquale did not. I highly recommend reading the Issues and Bio Page on both candidate’s websites and you will see the vast differences between the candidates.

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State Treasurer

Head of the Pennsylvania Department of the Treasury, which is the custodian of virtually all the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s funds.

Diana Irey Vaughan (State Treasurer candidate)

Website:        friendswithdiana.com

Phone:            570-337-2028

Bio:                 Resides in Washington County with husband and three children.

Education:       No specific info on her past education is available on her website

Experience:     First elected in 1995, she is a five term Washington County commissioner. Has served on numerous economic and community boards such as Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission in past years.

1. Accessibility? Good. She has a contact button clearly displayed on her website.

2. Term Limits? There is already a 2 term limit (4 yrs each term) for the State Treasurer position.

3. Pro-Life? Yes. Endorsed by People for Life.

4. Pro-2^nd Amendment? Yes. Endorsed by FOAC. Member of NRA. She got an A grade from NRA.

Robert McCord (State Treasurer incumbent)

Website:        www.robmccord.com

Phone:            no phone # available on website

Bio:                 McCord lives in Montgomery County with his wife and two sons.

Education:         He studied economics as an undergraduate at Harvard, graduating with high honors. He earned his MBA from University of Pennsylvania’s distinguished Wharton Business School.

Experience:     He is the incumbent State Treasurer so he already has 4 years of on the job experience. Before that, McCord managed more than one billion dollars in assets and raised money for young companies. He has decades of work as an independent business leader. He helped run a variety of venture capital operations and served as the long-time leader of the Eastern Technology Council.

1. Accessibility? Okay. He has a Contact button clearly displayed on his website but he doesn’t have a phone #.

2. Term Limits? There is already a 2 term limit (4 yrs each term) for the State Treasurer position.

3. Pro-Life? No. He is pro-abortion as reported by People for Life.

4. Pro-2^nd Amendment? No. He is not endorsed by FOAC. He did not reply to NRA’s questionnaire.

SUMMARY: I love the fiscal responsibility section on Diana’s website. She balanced seven consecutive Washington County budgets without raising taxes. Diana replied to the PA Family Voter’s Questionnaire and Robert McCord did not.

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Resources: Candidate’s individual websites, Pennsylvania Family Council’s Voter Guide (www.pafamilyvoter.com), FOAC Guide, People for Life guide