HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The five candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the Pennsylvania attorney general race met at KYW Newsradio’s studios Wednesday for a live debate ahead of the primary election on Tuesday, April 23. Attempts to organize a debate between Republican candidates York County District Attorney Dave Sunday and former federal prosecutor and Delaware County State Rep. Craig Williams were unsuccessful: Sunday declined the invitation to participate.
When Sunday landed the party’s endorsement earlier this year, another Republican candidate dropped out, but Williams says he’s still in the race.
“I am not the endorsed candidate, and I wear that as a badge of honor, because the Republican Party right now is failing — in every regard,” Williams said. “They're not raising money. They're not giving us winning candidates. And the only thing I do in Delaware County is win. I'm the last winning Republican in Delaware County.”
Williams, a retired Marine Corps colonel, points to his experience in the military flying combat missions in Iraq, being chief prosecutor at Camp Pendleton and legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He later became a federal prosecutor in Colorado and Philadelphia — “where I did predominantly violent crime, organized drug crime, gun crime, and a lot of illegal immigration.”
Sunday points to his own military service, saying he joined the Navy out of high school and spent time in the Persian Gulf. However, as an enlisted man, he says, he chipped paint and swabbed decks. When he got out of the military, he worked at UPS while he went to college and law school.
“Those first 12 years — four years enlisted guy in the Navy and eight years working at UPS all through college and law school — really laid the foundation for who I became as a leader, but also as an elected district attorney and a prosecutor,” Sunday said.
While at UPS, Sunday says he worked with people on probation or parole who had served time in prison and were ready for a second chance.
“I can tell you right now, there is no greater power than when someone recognizes they have the ability within themselves to change their own lives,” he said. “It's like magic happens, right?”
Sunday touts his experience in the courtroom as district attorney in York County, dealing with spillover crime from Baltimore. He has helped establish drug and addiction treatment programs and a reentry opportunity center where people can interview for jobs before they get out of prison.
He is endorsed by the state Republican Party, and he claims a long record of working with others. He said violent crime decreased during his tenure as DA in York County.
Williams was the house manager in the effort to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. After a successful impeachment vote in November 2022, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court halted the process the following January, writing that the charges were “not enough to create a constitutionally sound basis for impeaching and removing” Krasner.
“I've tried to educate the public who think that this is a political impeachment trial,” he said. “It is a crime in Pennsylvania for an official, especially an elected official, to oppress someone's constitutional statutory rights.”
Sunday said he did not support Williams’ effort to impeach Krasner and instead supported working to remove him at the ballot box.
Both candidates say their top priorities are violent crime, fraud protection, especially for seniors, and illegal drugs and addiction.
Williams says his brother’s death from an overdose in 2020 opened his eyes to trauma-informed therapy, which he says can help people who are fighting addiction, or who are involved in violent crime, understand what is driving their behavior so they can start making meaningful changes.
“Those of us who are family members of addicts are constantly saying, ‘What do I have to do to make you stop?’ — instead of the right question, which should have been, ‘What do I have to do to help you heal from whatever it was that traumatized you?’”
Sunday says every police department in York County has co-responders, mental health professionals who accompany and assist police on certain calls.
“We created a clinic, where the police have a place to take people that can get immediate mental health assessments. And as a result of that, they can go into outpatient treatment. This is the type of collaborative partnership that can be done when you're willing to work together.”
In response to Sunday’s decision to skip KYW Newsradio’s AG candidates debate, Williams had this to say:
“My opponent won't debate me. We had one debate a month ago and then a forum this weekend in front of a friendly audience outside of his community. And if you watch that 30-minute debate you're gonna find one thing stands out: I'm ready for the job. I'm ready to lead this state. And he's not.
“That's what I want you to know. I win, I lead and I'll keep you safe.”