Kathleen Kane Won’t Run for Second Term

Kathleen Kane.

Kathleen Kane, Pennsylvania’s scandal-plagued attorney general, said today she will not run for reelection.

“This was not easy decision,” she said, before announcing. “I am not seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general.”

She did not take any questions from the media assembled at Scranton for the announcement.

Kane’s law license has been suspended while she awaits trial on criminal charges on allegations she leaked secret grand jury information; she survived an ouster vote by the Pennsylvania Senate last week, but the Pennsylvania House began impeachment efforts. She made no direct mention of the charges, or the broader “Porngate” scandal, instead saying that as a “single mother,” she decided she needed to spend more time with her two teen sons.

“Being a single mother: God gave me two arms, and 24 hours in a single day,” she said. It’s a full-time job.” Kane was married when she first ran for attorney general; she filed for divorce from her husband, Chris Kane, in December 2014.

Said Kane: “While I love Pennsylvania, I love my sons first.”

Kane noted that polls put her ahead of other Democratic challengers for the office, and listed a number of accomplishments of her time in office, including the creation of a mobile street crimes unit, the reconstituting of a child predator unit, work on a gun crimes task force.

“I believe that we’ve made great strides,” she said, and added: “There’s more work to be done in all those areas.”

She defended her tenure, and obliquely mentioned the troubles plaguing her office.

“Every single day I strive to make sure Pennsylvanians get who and what they elected, and who and what they deserve,” she said, later adding: “I told you I would fight corruption, and I’m fighting corruption, regardless of the personal cost to me.”

And she said she would continue to fight for the causes she advocated while in office.

“I love being the the attorney general,” she said. “I love serving the people of Pennsylvania. I hope they know that know that and they feel that.”