Kathleen Kane, the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, last week told members of the Take Back Your Neighborhood civic association that television and radio commercials criticizing her record are way off base.
“That ad is the most horrendous ad I have ever seen,” she said.
Kane, a former Lackawanna County assistant district attorney, faces Republican David Freed and Libertarian Marakay Rogers in the Nov. 6 election.
A group called the Republican State Leadership Committee paid for commercials contending that she negotiated weak plea deals in two rape cases. Kane said she was not the prosecutor in the cases.
“It’s a lie,” she said.
The RSLC is not connected to Freed, but Kane said Freed should have called on the group to stop running the ad.
After the commercials were widely criticized, the claims of her being soft in those two cases were removed. The ads now focus on a claim Kane made during the Democratic primary, that she prosecuted 3,000 cases. In fact, only about two dozen went to trial.
Kane, who has been campaigning for 20 months, also criticized the way the state’s new voter identification law was implemented. The Republican-controlled legislature passed the measure, and Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed it in March.
“They rammed it through,” Kane said.
After appeals by Democrats and liberal groups, a state judge delayed implementation of the law until next year.
Kane said being attorney general is a big responsibility. She said the office serves as a consumer advocate and watchdog.
As an assistant district attorney, Kane prosecuted rape cases against children. She criticized Gov. Tom Corbett for the way he handled the Jerry Sandusky case when he was attorney general. She said the allegations against the former Penn State assistant football coach were so serious that taking them to a grand jury unnecessarily dragged out the process.
If elected, Kane said she would be an independent attorney general. Corbett recruited Freed to the race. She enjoyed her days as an assistant district attorney and wants to return to being a prosecutor.
“I have the experience for the issues facing Pennsylvanians today,” she said.
In other news from the Oct. 15 meeting, city Department of Public Health nutrition coordinator Jennifer Aquilante distributed literature.
The literature included a list of Philadelphia farmers markets. Anyone who uses food stamps or an Access card to buy $5 in goods at 27 participating markets will be given a $2 coupon to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Take Back Your Neighborhood will meet again on Monday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., at Max Myers Playground, at 1601 Hellerman St. ••
