March 28 – The Franklin County Republican Committee hosted the Lincoln Day Dinner last evening where Dave Sunday, who is running for Attorney General in Pennsylvania was the keynote speaker.
The event saw a number of politicians in attendance, as well as local business leaders, professionals and community members.
Pat Ryan of NewsTalk 103.7FM pointed out, “David Sunday dropped into the radio station. He stopped by and seemed certainly very qualified after serving his country, working for UPS, a family guy, tough on crime, holding those responsible, even redemption baked into his conversations on the radio. A good amount of polish on the guy. “There weren’t a lot of things that were very controversial.”
Attorney Clint Barkdoll suggested, “I’m sure that’s part of his strategy. He also has the endorsement from the state party, but he is not uncontested. There are other people running for Attorney General in the primary. Some Republicans don’t like it that the party has gotten overly involved in endorsing him, but setting that aside he is very qualified. You look at his resume as a prosecutor, there’s military service, all sorts of other community service. That’s a good recipe for success as an attorney general and it’s likely he will win at least the Republican nomination. What happens in the fall remains to be seen. This has been for whatever reason, a difficult office for Republicans to hold. They’ve had success winning the treasurer and the Auditor General, but this particular row office seems like Democrats have largely been able to dominate it over the last 20 or 30 years. So maybe Sunday can break the mold this year. The presidential election will undoubtedly affect this race as well.”
Ryan noted, “We cornered Sunday a little bit. “We did ask him about Trump and the Trump train and Trump support and it would take two times to get the answer out.”
Sunday said yesterday, “I’m supporting the entire Republican ticket. “I’m supporting our presidential nominee.”
Ryan said, “We know that John Joyce is certainly in that camp, and has no problem with DJT.”
Sunday added, “I’m supporting our nominee for president, Donald Trump.”
Ryan pointed out, “It took a couple of swings to get that answer.”
Barkdoll said, “I think that’s what he’s going to have to stick with but he’s also very cognizant of the fact that this is a very purple state. All of the battleground polls show the state basically tied, maybe Trump has a slight lead, maybe Biden has a slight lead. So if you’re one of these statewide candidates for another office, they’re kind of walking a tightrope because we know they must appeal to these swing voters and I go back to 2020, Biden won Pennsylvania, but Republicans expanded their margins in the state legislature. They flipped the treasurer seat, they flipped the Auditor General seat, but Shapiro then was reelected attorney general, who tells me there are a lot of Pennsylvanians that split their ticket. They’re not just on up and down the ticket all R’s or all D’s and that’s undoubtedly a dynamic that these candidates are examining to make sure they’re appealing to the broadest base they can.”
PA Representative Rob Kauffman said, “Dave Sunday is actually a great guy. He is a district attorney in York County and all my colleagues in York County think the world of him. He has been great for York County. He did very well in prosecuting crimes. I’ve talked about how he’s helped in York City, York City violence problems. He is a great public servant. “I’ve known him for a few years as judiciary chairman and he’s a great guy.”
For more information on Sunday, click here.
