Here's what you need to know about Eugene DePasquale and Dave Sunday, the candidates for attorney general
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The attorney general of Pennsylvania is not the top office on the ballot, but it is a very important one.
Remember former attorneys general Ernie Preate, Mike Fisher, Tom Corbett, and Josh Shapiro? All four ran for governor and two got elected. That's why there's extra focus on the next attorney general: Democrat Eugene DePasquale or Republican Dave Sunday.
"I'm running as a prosecutor. If our communities are not safe, nothing else matters," Sunday said.
Sunday is the current York County district attorney. He says his office has prosecuted 40,000 cases with a 97 percent conviction rate. His opponent is Pittsburgh-born DePasquale, the state's former auditor general.
"I was tough and fair on a Republican governor as auditor general, tough and fair on a Democratic governor, conducted statewide investigations rooting out corruption, saving taxpayer dollars," DePasquale said.
Sunday criticizes DePasquale for never having prosecuted a case, saying that is an essential requirement for AG.
"Right now in Pennsylvania, we have around 1,000 prosecutors, around 1,000 practicing prosecutors in Pennsylvania, and every single one of them has more experience as a prosecutor than my opponent," Sunday said.
"I have conducted statewide investigations, and I have run a complicated state agency, and I've shown leadership in taking on tough fights," DePasquale said. "That's exactly what the attorney general does. I have very similar experience to then-Attorney General, now Governor Josh Shapiro."
Sunday acknowledges that Shapiro, like DePasquale, was never a prosecutor but says Shapiro, as a county commissioner, was more familiar with a county DA's office. Sunday says his skills fit an important part of the AG's office.
"There is also a very big, robust criminal section where you have a child predator unit, organized crime unit, public corruption unit, criminal prosecution unit," Sunday said.
"My opponent has not conducted one statewide investigation," DePasquale said.
DePasquale counters the AG is not a prosecutor in the courtroom but assigns cases that can best protect the public, including consumers.
"The attorney general is not in the courtroom," DePasquale said. "You are leading a 1,000-person agency, so you are the one providing leadership and picking the big cases to go after."
"The work of the civil division is unbelievably important and God willing I'm elected I look forward to working with those talented attorneys every day," Sunday said.
"Would you like to be governor of Pennsylvania?" KDKA-TV's Jon Delano asked both.
"That is not something that I am in any way seeking to do. I am a career prosecutor," Sunday said.
"If I get elected attorney general, I commit to people I will serve these two terms, and I'll protect Pennsylvanians every single day," DePasquale said.
While most of the focus statewide has been on the presidential and U.S. Senate races, the choice of the next state attorney general arguably has a more direct impact on the daily lives of people in Pennsylvania.