State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta bested fellow Democrat Mark Pinsley on Tuesday to secure his party's nomination for Pennsylvania auditor general.
The two Democrats vying for the nomination — both from the eastern part of the state but bringing very different perspectives to the race — competed to challenge Republican incumbent Tim DeFoor for the job of being the state’s fiscal watchdog.
Philadelphia’s Malcolm Kenyatta was first elected to the state House in 2018 and is probably best known to voters in Western Pennsylvania as one of John Fetterman’s rivals in the 2022 Senate race. Kenyatta was the first openly gay Black member of the House when he was elected, and he has been a progressive firebrand since, often mocking Republicans on the House floor.
Kenyatta’s background has been in political advocacy more than number-crunching. But he’s said that growing up poor in Philadelphia has given him a perspective and zeal to ensure government functions as it should.
“I’ve seen what happens when government doesn’t work,” he told a gathering of East End Democrats last month. Pleading to be not just a watchdog but a “public advocate,” he said he’d create a bureau to monitor labor standards.
Mark Pinsley already serves as the Lehigh County Controller, a post that is the down-ballot equivalent of auditor general. Pinsley built his campaign around that experience, which includes holding an MBA and a background in the private sector.
“I am the only one in the race that is currently doing the job of auditor general,” he told the East End audience during his own turn at the microphone.
Pinsley stressed that he hadn’t just been counting beans: He has boasted of moving county deposits from a bank whose executives donated to candidates who oppose abortion rights, and of having helped to elevate Democrats to leadership posts in once-red Lehigh.
DeFoor ran unopposed on the Republican ballot.
