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first two are “restoring integrity to the state justice system” and “cleaning up the mess” that is the attorney general’s office. Using the office as a progressive platform to protect citizens from polluting frackers, senior scammers and online predators comes in third. Rafferty’s campaign said he wants to reform the office so it can crack down on identity theft and Medicare fraud. According to Barley, Shapiro is more interested in his political ambitions than cleaning up – and cleaning up is important, remember? “The fact is that Josh is simply running for this office to be the governor-candidate-in-waiting or to run for U.S. Senate. He doesn’t want to be attorney general,” he said. “The office is a mess and you can’t
afford to get someone like that in there.” Despite Rafferty’s best attempts to bait him, Shapiro is taking the (relatively) high road for now, sticking to a message of unity – especially after a race where Zappala sought to pit different regions of the state against him. “They were lined up against me and we got almost 60 percent of the vote,” he said. That’s the past, he adds; Democrats statewide are already lining up to back him. “We won 10 counties across (Pennsylvania) in some of the most rural parts and the most urban parts,” he said. “Throughout the campaign people kept trying to pit this as east vs. west, and I kept saying it’s not about that. I don’t think some reporters believe me.”
JOHN RAFFERTY
8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: SANTARSIERO/FITZPATRICK DEMOCRATIC STATE REP. Steve Santarsiero and Republican Brian Fitzpatrick are on opposite sides of a contentious race to succeed Congressman (and Brian’s brother) Mike Fitzpatrick in Bucks County, but they have a few things in common. They both handily won their party’s nomination after shaky starts in the primary, their fundraising war chests are nearly equal, and they both like to talk about 9/11. A lot. And not for wholly clear reasons. Both released campaign ads that evoke the terrorist attacks almost out of thin air. Santarsiero has built a narrative around watching the towers fall while working as a lawyer in New York – it’s what led him to become a teacher, he says, which in turn presumably motivated him to run for office years later. He got rapped for the March advert by Daily Kos for the tenuousness of the 9/11 connection to a race in a different state, some 15 years later. But then Fitzpatrick followed suit just before the primary, releasing a considerably longer online video that shows the former FBI agent recalling how he asked to be assigned to the New York City bureau after attending a 9/11 memorial in Quantico, Virginia. The race, which encompasses one of the wealthiest – and, objectively speaking, safest – counties in the United States has been tinged with references to safety, perhaps as a reaction to national headlines about ISIS. Fitzpatrick’s grim-sounding slogan is
“security and opportunity for all,” and his campaign is strongly playing up the political newcomer’s FBI credentials, both on national defense issues and cleaning up the corrupt political status quo – which is, of course, obliquely symbolized by his opponent. “I’ve spent a career dedicated to security and holding public officials accountable,” Fitzpatrick told City & State through his campaign. “Voters want an independent voice representing them in Washington, not more insider partisanship.” Beyond his earlier pledges to keep his district safe and create jobs, Santarsiero is running on his record in a district that has leaned left in recent years. “In the statehouse, I’ve flipped a Republican district blue, and I’m ready to do the same in Congress,” he said. “I’m grateful to have received the trust of Bucks and Montgomery County voters.” Part of what makes this race interesting is its unpredictability. Fitzpatrick has the right name and an interesting story, but little political background or local recognition, while his opponent has experience but seems to still be trying to figure out what he wants to tell voters. Success could very well depend on how much outside money gets funneled into this race. But laying off the 9/11 references – which neither camp wanted to discuss – would probably be a good move for both contenders.
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STEVE SANTARSIERO
BRIAN FITZPATRICK