2024 Pennsylvania general election voters' guide: Auditor General

Candidates participating in this year’s general election were invited to submit information to the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, which partnered with PennLive to create this voters’ guide.

The candidates below are in a contested race for Pennsylvania Auditor General and are in the order provided by the League of Women Voters.

Malcolm Kenyatta

Party: Democratic

County: Philadelphia

Occupation: State Representative

Education: B.A. in Public Communications and a minor in Political Science from Temple University, M.S. in Strategic and Digital Communications from Drexel University, and completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executives in State and Local Government program

Qualifications: He is a member of State Government Committee with oversight of state agencies and elections, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Government Operations; Chair of Automation and Technology in the Commerce Committee; and as a member of the Finance and Judiciary committees

Contact: Website | Facebook | Instagram

What improvements, if any, would you make to the Auditor General’s office?

As Auditor General, I will rebuild the bureau of school audits, restart the annual compliance audits ended by the current Auditor General, and demand accountability from all our schools — including cyber charter schools.

I will stand up for our workers by creating the first ever Bureau of Labor and Worker Protections and use the power of the office to take on wage theft, employee misclassification, and union busting.

I will use the office to measure and support efforts to make communities healthier and safer. We need transparency on how huge hospital nonprofits and long-term care providers use state dollars.

How can you make the work of the Auditor General’s office more transparent to the public?

I’m running for Auditor General because it’s time for the underdog to be a watchdog for Pennsylvania’s working families. To ask the tough questions, to help reimagine and streamline government, and to help build the coalitions to fix what’s wrong. It’s what I’ve done as a State Representative for nearly five years, working to protect workers’ rights, enact common-sense gun safety policies, and root out government corruption and waste.

We deserve a government that works for working families. That starts with being serious about fixing what’s broken. And it means having an Auditor General who isn’t afraid to stand up for those too often forgotten by our government.

Tim DeFoor

Party: Republican

County: Dauphin

Occupation: Auditor General

Education: Associate degree in paralegal studies from Harrisburg Area Community College. University of Pittsburgh- Bachelor’s degree in psychology and earned a second Bachelor’s degree in sociology and history. Master’s in project management from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

Qualifications: Dauphin County Controller from 2016 to 2020. Elected Pennsylvania Auditor General in 2020. Over 30 years of experience as a Special Investigator with Pennsylvania’s Office of Inspector General, as a Special Agent with Pennsylvania’s Attorney General and in the private sector and federal government.

Contact: Website | Facebook

What improvements, if any, would you make to the Auditor General’s office?

Under Tim’s leadership, the Auditor General’s office has focused on transforming the office in various ways, which include: how the Department recruits and retains employees; how it audits, making the work more efficient and effective for the taxpayers; and how it is building the next generation, focusing on the need for financial literacy education to be taught across the entire Commonwealth through the ‘Be Money Smart’ initiative.

How can you make the work of the Auditor General’s office more transparent to the public?

Tim has transformed and improved how the Auditor General’s office conducts public and charter school audits to ensure that administrators and school boards are accountable and transparent with taxpayer dollars.

Reece Smith

Party: Libertarian

County: Allegheny

Occupation: Financial Services

Education: Bachelors Degree in Economics

Qualifications: I have spent years holding local government accountable by attending meetings, asking questions, and informing my neighbors of things happening.

Contact: Website | Facebook

What improvements, if any, would you make to the Auditor General’s office?

First, I would actually audit the State Government. In the past four years the Auditor General’s Office has conducted about 20 audits of State departments, agencies, and funds. In that same time span they conducted over 12,000 audits in total. That means only 0.17% of their audits look at the State government. As well, I want to Audit the Governor’s office and the offices of the leaders in the legislature, as personal offices are some of the most high risk places for corruption, especially for the most powerful. Additionally, I want to have regular press conferences reviewing audit results and letting people know exactly what their money was spent on. When was the last time you heard about the results of an audit?

How can you make the work of the Auditor General’s office more transparent to the public?

I want to make the Auditor’s General office more transparent by holding regular press conferences reviewing audit results and letting people know exactly what their money was spent on.

Eric K. Anton

Party: American Solidarity

County: Dauphin

This candidate has not completed the 2024 general election voters’ guide.

Bob Goodrich

Party: Constitution

County: Tioga

Occupation: Retired U.S. Army, Christian school principal

Education: BS Civil Engineering, USMA West Point, NY; MA Organiztional Leadership, Chapman U., Orange, CA

Qualifications: Husband, father, Christian

What improvements, if any, would you make to the Auditor General’s office?

Focus on being honest, efficient, and helpful.

How can you make the work of the Auditor General’s office more transparent to the public?

Welcome public inquiries and provide timely responses to questions.