Politics & Government
Kane, Leach, DePasquale Stump at Colonial Dems BBQ
Talk November showdowns with Republicans.
The campaign trail of state attorney general candidate Kathleen Kane and auditor general candidate Eugene DePasquale ran through Conshohocken on Tuesday, as the Colonial Area Democratic Committee held its annual summer barbecue.
Kane and DePasquale, along with state senator Daylin Leach (D-17), who is up for re-election in the fall, used the opportunity to deliver their message to an audience of about 150 at the Conshohocken Bocce Club.
Leach spoke first, framing the upcoming election as one that will be hotly contested.
"This is going to be an intense year," Leach said. "It's after Citizen's United, and corporate money and billionaire money is going to be flowing in, so we have to counter that with hardwork and door-knocking."
Leach also spoke out against the newly-minted Voter ID law, calling it a legal effort to disenfranchise voters.
"I spoke with my Republican colleagues behind closed doors, and they're very open about it," Leach said. "This is about winning elections for Republicans by disenfranchising poor people, African Americans, students, elderly people and handicapped people."
Kane, a Scranton native and resident who formerly worked as an assistant district attorney in Lackawanna County, stuck to her campaign message of running as an independent prosecutor.
"I specialized in the prosecution of child sexual assault cases, elder abuse cases, and public corruption cases," Kane said. "Those are the issues that face Pennsylvanians today."
However, Kane did take a few jabs at Republicans, calling the party soft on white-collar crime.
"Consumer protection crimes are a theft," said Kane. "There are hundreds of millions of dollars being taken from Pennsylvanians every single year, but the Republicans turn their head and look away."
DePasquale spoke last, and was not shy about speaking out against Governor Tom Corbett's administration.
"Who here wants Tom Corbett to be a one term governor?" DePasquale asked. "The easiest path to get to that is for Kathleen and myself to win… we will be an effective watchdog team on Corbett."
DePasquale told that the audience that if elected, he would perform an audit on state job creation programs to determine which ones were creating middle class jobs, and also review the effects of drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
"If you elect me auditor general, on day one I will order a review of all of our water protection programs to make sure that Marcellus Shale drilling doesn't negatively impact our drinking water," DePasquale said.
Jason Salus, Montgomery County Treasurer and area leader for the Colonial Dems, told Patch that the barbecue has become one of the organization's largest events of the year, with about 200 people RSVPing.
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