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This Republican wants to be PA attorney general, but he's already alienated a powerful GOP group [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2023-10-06  

Republican state Rep. Craig Williams has been trying to build internal party support for an undeclared 2024 bid for Pennsylvania attorney general, but he got some unwelcome news when a powerful national party group trashed him as dishonest and "very moderate, unprincipled and opportunistic."

Things began late last month when, in the leadup to the state GOP's Sept. 30 gathering, the state representative emailed committee members, "I am confident after discussing my qualifications this week with the Republican Attorney Generals Association (RAGA) that as our Attorney General nominee, I would earn a top investment to pickup an office Republicans have not won since 2008." He went on to argue that his background as a Marine and electoral success in a suburban Philadelphia seat that backed Joe Biden made him a strong contender.

RAGA executive director Peter Bisbee, though, quickly responded by emailing those same party officials that Williams had supplied "a misleading and inaccurate representation of my organization's assessment" of the would-be candidate. "When he came to visit us, I found him taking selfies in our office behind our logos and was puzzled by this behavior," Bisbee wrote in a missive shared by Spotlight PA's Stephen Caruso. "To win the AG's race we need a serious prosecutor who is tough on crime, not someone trying to deceive people and eyeing their next political move."

Williams in turn hit back by telling committee members, "Tell me someone else will get the endorsement and that's fine. But don't dare call a U.S. Marine unprincipled." He also castigated RAGA as the type of political insiders who "continue to lose elections." None of these back-and-fourth attacks mentioned the only declared GOP contender, York County District Attorney David Sunday, but Williams argued to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Chris Brennan that RAGA was behaving in an "over the top" way in order to help him. Sunday's team, however, told the paper they hadn't spoken to RAGA about his foe.

The attorney general's office is held by Michelle Henry, a Democrat who has said she won't seek a full term next year after she was appointed to succeed her old boss, now-Gov. Josh Shapiro. Four notable Democrats have already launched campaigns: former public defender Keir Bradford-Grey, former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, former Bucks County Solicitor Joe Khan, and state Rep. Jared Solomon.

P.S. The Keystone State allows candidates to run for multiple offices at once, so Williams would have the option to both campaign for attorney general and defend his 53-46 Biden state House seat in the Philadelphia suburbs. Williams last year won a second term 52-48 even as Democrats were taking a 102-101 majority in the lower chamber.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/6/2197836/-This-Republican-wants-to-be-PA-attorney-general-but-he-s-already-alienated-a-powerful-GOP-group?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=elections&pm_medium=web

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