PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Former Lackawanna County prosecutor Kathleen Kane declared victory Tuesday night in her hard-fought battle for the Democratic nomination for attorney general over former Congressman Patrick Murphy of Bucks County.
Kane, 45, of Clarks Summit, who spent 13 years as an assistant district attorney, edged out Murphy to become the first woman of either party nominated to run for Pennsylvania attorney general.
She will face Republican District Attorney David Freed of Cumberland County, who ran unopposed, in November.
Kane beat Murphy despite his considerable ties in the vote-rich Philadelphia area, where he had won the backing of city Democratic leader Bob Brady and other party leaders. Murphy served two terms in Congress from Bucks County before voters turned him out in 2010 in favor of U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick – the same man Murphy had beaten to win the job in 2006… (more)
EDITOR: Kane won approximately 54% of the votes. This relative amateur to politics benefited from expenditure of a reported $2 million in family campaign donations, a ringing endorsement from former president Bill Clinton, and a mantra that resonated with voters: “A prosecutor, not a politician.” If elected in November, she not only will be the first female state attorneygeneral, but the first elected Democrat. (Before 1981, the position was appointed.)
