State row office elections may hang on mail-in ballot count

Early returns suggested two incumbent Democratic state row officers — Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and state Treasurer Joe Torsella — could be in trouble in their reelection bids.

With about 32% of the vote tallied Tuesday evening, Shapiro was lagging Allegheny County Republican challenger Heather Heidelbaugh by 45% to 53%, while Torsella had 41% to Republican challenger Stacy Garrity’s 55%.

But experts have cautioned that early in-person voting returns could be deceptive and would favor Republicans in a state where as many as 3 million voters, the majority of whom were Democrats, cast mail-in ballots that are still being tabulated.

Shapiro and Torsella were expected to easily win their races.

Shapiro, 47, a former Montgomery County lawmaker and one-time state House member, made national headlines for his 2018 grand jury report that documented decades of child sexual abuse among the state’s Catholic priests. He went on to claim a leadership role in a coalition of state attorneys general who took on drug companies implicated in the spread of the opioid epidemic.

Many inside and outside party circles view him as a likely candidate for governor in 2022 when Gov. Tom Wolf leaves office after serving two terms.

Heidelbaugh, 61, of Mt. Lebanon, a lawyer and former Allegheny County Council member, consistently lagged behind Shapiro in polls.

Heidelbaugh, who said criminal law would be her top priority in office, accused Shapiro of using the office of the state’s top law enforcement officer as a springboard to higher office.

Likewise, Torsella, 57, also of Montgomery County, has been viewed as a likely contender in 2022 when both the governor’s office and a U.S. Senate seat will be open.

He previously held the title of ambassador as President Barack Obama’s envoy for United Nations management and reform, headed the National Constitution Center and was chairman of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education under former Gov. Ed Rendell.

Garrity, 56, a retired Army officer turned manufacturing executive from Bradford County in northern Pennsylvania, has campaigned on her vow to use the Treasurer’s office as a check and balance against state spending patterns.

The contest for state auditor general, in which two-term Democrat Eugene DePasquale was term limited, pitted Dauphin County Controller Timothy L. DeFoor, 58, on the Republican ticket against Nina Ahmad, 61, a former Philadelphia deputy mayor on the Democratic ticket. DeFoor had 56% to 40% for Ahmad.

Like Heidelbaugh and Garrity, DeFoor appeared to be ahead in early balloting.