DN Editorial: McGinty for Senate; Zappala for AG; Evans for Congress

DEMOCRATIC VOTERS will have a lot of strong choices on the ballot in Tuesday's primary. The headliner is Hillary Clinton vs. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination for president. We will have more on that race later this week.

Voters also will be asked to choose among three candidates running for their party's nomination for U.S. Senate. The winner will face Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey in November. Three Democrats also are running for attorney general and the right to face whoever the Republicans choose as their nominee in the fall.

Finally, there is a race in Philadelphia's 2nd Congressional District, where three candidates are running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, who faces trial on federal corruption charges.

McGinty for U.S. Senate

There is not much different politically or philosophically between Katie McGinty and her opponents, former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and John Fetterman, the mayor of the small town of Braddock outside Pittsburgh.

Both men are imposing, Fetterman literally so. He stands at nearly 7 feet tall. Sestak, a former Navy admiral, is a vigorous and persistent campaigner, who walked the length of the state this year as part of his campaign.

McGinty, who served in the Clinton White House and as secretary of environmental protection in the Rendell administration, lost her bid for governor last year. Gov. Tom Wolf recruited her to be chief of staff. All three would bring something different to the table.

Using that as a basis for a decision, we favor McGinty for the biggest difference she would bring: She would help alter the serious gender gap in the Senate, where only 20 of the 100 members are female.

And if you think that doesn't matter or that we're reaching for empty gestures of political correctness, we invite you to review the battles Congress has initiated over Planned Parenthood and women's access to reproductive health care, including birth control.

Zappala for attorney general

In the Democratic race for attorney general we favor Stephen Zappala Jr., who has served as district attorney in Allegheny County since 1998.

Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro is a smart guy with a bright future in politics. But we need an experienced prosecutor, not a politician, in that office; one who can make decisions based on the facts, even if messy politics are involved. One reason for the downfall of incumbent Kathleen Kane was her refusal to pursue the results of a sting investigation of Philadelphia Democratic legislators.

We believe politics entered into that decision, a belief buttressed by the fact that District Attorney Seth Williams took up the cases and prosecuted them successfully. Kane wisely decided not to seek re-election.

The third candidate in the race is John Morganelli, district attorney of Northampton County. Of the three, we find Zappala the best for this job.

Evans for Congress

In the 2nd Congressional District, the choice is easy. We favor state Rep. Dwight Evans. A veteran with decades of experience in Harrisburg, Evans is a man of substance, a hard worker and a policy wonk, who is also a practitioner of practical politics. We believe he would be just as effective in Congress.

Two of his opponents, lawyer and 9th Ward leader Dan Muroff and Brian Gordon, a Lower Merion Township commissioner, don't come close to matching Evans' political or policy skills.

As to Fattah, he deserves the presumption of innocence in the face of the serious corruption charges against him. We simply feel it is time for him to move on.