Two Republicans, including a former Scranton cop, and three Democrats want to succeed indicted state Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane next year.

Experience is a major focus of the campaign to replace her. The right kind of experience, that is.

The five are highlighting backgrounds that don't always include criminal prosecution work as they vie to win the Democratic and Republican nominations for attorney general in the April 26 primary election.

Ms. Kane faces an Aug. 8 trial on charges she leaked secret grand jury information as a vendetta against a former colleague who embarrassed her and lied to a grand jury investigating the leak. She is not seeking re-election.

Four years ago, she won the office with 12 years of experience, only as an assistant district attorney — a fact raised by her opponent four years ago, Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed, who said she lacked the experience necessary to run an office.

It's a contention that surfaced in this campaign, too.

Three longtime prosecutors are running — Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., both Democrats, and former Scranton cop Joe Peters, a Republican, who was a longtime prosecutor in the attorney general's office almost two decades ago.

The other candidates, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, and state Sen. John Rafferty Jr., a Republican who represents parts of Montgomery and two other counties, say a long career as a prosecutor isn't necessarily the best qualification for the job, though Mr. Rafferty served as a deputy attorney general almost 30 years ago.

"Look around the country, 40 percent of the nation's attorneys general were never prosecutors," Mr. Shapiro said.

"They were like me" and came from legislative, advocacy-group or private-sector backgrounds, he said.

The Democrats

Mr. Shapiro argues his background as a congressional aide, private-sector lawyer, reform-minded county commissioner and state representative and chairman of the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency provide a depth of experience others lack.

"Unless you know otherwise, I can't remember a time over the last two or three decades where the attorney general has ever been in court in Pennsylvania," Mr. Shapiro said.

That doesn't stop Mr. Morganelli, the Northampton district attorney since 1992, from needling — mostly Mr. Shapiro, but also Mr. Zappala — his primary-election opponents.

"Right now, I'm the longest-serving district attorney in Pennsylvania," Mr. Morganelli said. "None of these Democratic candidates, including Zappala, have my resume. ... His job (Mr. Shapiro's) is to salt the roads and cut the grass at the county parks, and that's certainly not the best experience to be the chief law enforcement officer of the state."

Mr. Zappala, he said, never prosecuted a case himself.

Mr. Zappala said that's not the job of a district attorney in a large county.

"I can't be in the courtroom. I got 118 lawyers that I'm responsible for and I've got 16 courtrooms at the trial level I'm responsible for and I run the grand jury," he said.

He still knows what he's doing with his office prosecuting 300,000 cases during his tenure, he said.

As attorney general, he would target the state's growing heroin and opioid addiction epidemic and target illegal guns. He would increase the use of grand juries to investigate and indict criminals and coordinate the fight against illegal drugs when drug problems cross county borders.

He also proposes targeting slumlords who offer substandard housing and employers who discriminate in hiring. He would focus on increasing the amount of treatment available for mentally ill convicts and even sue the state if that doesn't happen, he said.

Mr. Shapiro envisions an office with a broader focus than now. For starters, he would ban gifts to office employees, publish all expenses online, beef up ethics rules and training and hire a diversity officer to monitor hiring, he said.

He also would fight for a ban on all gifts to government officials; a more robustly staffed Ethics Commission; tougher penalties for public corruption; and instant online campaign finance reporting.

He said he would boost the unit that prosecutes criminals who scam senior citizens, target polluting natural gas fracking companies and even enforce the state constitution in ways others haven't.

For example, he said, the constitution requires the state to provide "a thorough and efficient education system." He would not defend the state against an existing lawsuit that challenges the state's education funding formula, he said. Instead, he might sue the state to ensure adequate and fair funding for all districts, he said.

Mr. Morganelli said he is best qualified because of his experience to "walk in and clean up the situation that's pretty dire right now," referring to Ms. Kane's office.

Mr. Morganelli said he would combat rising violent crime by establishing a gun-trafficking unit to battle illegal gun sales.

"I think that's a huge priority," he said.

He would fight for legislation to end parole for repeat violent felons, he said, and would push for more money to treat mental illness and alcohol and drug dependency because they all contribute to crime outbreaks.

"You just can't lock everybody up. I want to lock up the violent criminals for a long time. You commit a gun crime, you should be in jail for 20 years," he said.

He also would target transnational drug gangs by pushing for a state racketeering law that punishes even membership in a gang.

He sees his three previous losses for the post — primaries in 2000 and 2004 and the general election in 2008 — as irrelevant, pointing to former Gov. Bob Casey, who lost in three previous tries for his office.

The Republicans

Mr. Peters, Ms. Kane's communications director for a year before her troubles really began, said he would work to restore morale in the attorney general's office.

"They want someone who knows them, knows what they do, knows the office to get it back on track and on a positive road and remove the cloud," he said. "I can bring instant credibility to the job on day one."

A prosecutor of drug and organized crimes for 15 years as a deputy attorney general, he was specially assigned to a team of federal prosecutors who gained the conviction of Philadelphia mob boss "Little Nicky" Scarfo in 1988. Those 15 years and his later experience as the No. 2 man in the national drug czar's office under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush make him uniquely qualified for the job, he said.

He would target the state's growing heroin and opioid addiction problems, he said. He advocates expanded funding of drug addiction and mental health courts statewide to save taxpayers money in the long run. He would put his experience as an anti-terrorism consultant to use, targeting the overlap between drug cartels and terrorists. He would also create an office to advocate for veterans and fight on behalf of farmers who are victims of government overregulation.

He characterizes the main difference between himself and Mr. Rafferty as "career prosecutor versus career politician."

Mr. Rafferty dismisses the notion that running an attorney general's office requires a career prosecutor. He pointed to former Attorney General Mike Fisher. Mr. Fisher was a veteran state senator with only limited prosecutorial experience before becoming attorney general.

"When you're the attorney general, you're the managing law partner. You're the CEO of a 750-, 800-person office. So you have to have that broad knowledge of the law," he said.

As a deputy attorney general, he concentrated on prosecuting Medicaid fraud, and said that and his 12 years as a senator passing anti-crime laws would give him a broad vision. He helped write criminal laws, practiced the law and met a payroll as the leader of a law firm, he said.

He said his first priority would be re-establishing the office's spirit and ensuring it doesn't operate with political vendettas in mind, a charge leveled against Ms. Kane.

He would target political corruption, the heroin epidemic and child predators, he said.

He also would work to enhance the office's cooperation with local district attorneys and other state agencies and enhance the office's consumer protection unit to target criminals out to scam senior citizens and steal identities.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

Democrats

John Michael Morganelli

Age: 60

Residence: Bethlehem City, Northampton County

Family: Wife, Diana; children, John Jr., Christopher and Laura Marie

Education: Liberty High School, Bethlehem, 1973; bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, political science, Moravian College, 1977; juris doctor, Villanova University Law School, 1980

Experience: Private, self-owned civil and criminal law practice, 1980-1995; Bethlehem city solicitor, 1986-1991; district attorney, Northampton County, 1992-present; member, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, 1995-2000; president, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute, 2002-2003; president, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, 1999-2000; assistant public defender, 1982-1986; law instructor, part time, Moravian College, 1982-1984 and 2003-present

Joshua David Shapiro

Age: 42

Residence: Abington Twp., Montgomery County

Family: Wife, Lori; children, Sophia, Jonah, Max and Reuben

Education: Akiba Academy, Lower Merion Twp., 1991; bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, political science, University of Rochester, 1995; juris doctor, Georgetown University Law Center, 2002

Experience: Legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, 1995-1996; senior adviser, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch of Florida, 1996–1998; senior adviser, U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, 1998–1999; chief of staff, U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, 1999-2003; state representative, 2004-2012; deputy House speaker, 2007-2008; Montgomery County Commissioner, 2012-present; chairman, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, 2015-present; attorney, Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, and Young, Philadelphia, 2006-present

Stephen Andrew Zappala Jr.

Age: 58

Residence: Fox Chapel, Allegheny County

Family: Wife, Mary; children, Steve, Sam, Mike and Joe

Education: Central Catholic High School, Pittsburgh, 1975; bachelor's degree, political science, University of Pittsburgh, 1979; juris doctor, Duquesne University School of Law, 1984

Experience: private practice lawyer, 1984-1998, civil, municipal and criminal law first at Grogan, Graffam, McGinley & Lucchino and Dattilo, Barry, Fasulo & Cambest law firms, then partner in 1990 at Brucker, Zappala, Schneider & Porter; district attorney, Allegheny County, 1998-present

Name: Joseph Camille Peters

Party: Republican

Age: 58

Residence: Lake Winola, Overfield Twp., Wyoming County

Family: Son, Max

Education: West Scranton High School, 1975; bachelor's degree, criminal justice, King's College, 1979; juris doctor, Dickinson School of Law, 1983

Experience: Scranton police officer, 1978-1981; assistant, deputy and executive deputy attorney general with focus on organized crime and drugs, including as director of the Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, attorney general's office, 1982-1998; director, federal high-intensity drug-tracking area, Philadelphia, 1998-1999; director, all federal high-intensity drug-trafficking areas, national drug czar's office, 1999-2003; counterterrorism consultant, 2004-present; president and chief executive officer, Nano Mobile Healthcare Inc., 2014-present; president, MSGI Technology Solutions, Inc. (formerly, MSGI Security Solutions, Inc., Media Services Group), 2004-present; executive director, Scranton Cultural Center, 2011-2013; state executive deputy attorney general in charge of communications, 2013-2014.

Name: John Charles Rafferty Jr.

Party: Republican

Age: 63

Residence: Lower Providence Twp., Montgomery County

Family: Siblings, Mary, Eileen and Michael

Education: Methacton High School, Eagleville, 1971; bachelor's degree, history/politics, 1975, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown; master's degree, history/English, Beaver College, 1984; juris doctor, Temple University School of Law, 1988

Experience: General manager, General Washington Recreation Center, 1976-1986; school director, Methacton School District, 1980-1984; supervisor, Lower Providence Twp., 1986 to 1988; state deputy attorney general, 1988-1991; private practice lawyer, focusing on education, real estate, zoning and business and estates law, 1991 to 2002; member, Montgomery County Board of Assessment Appeals, 1996-2002; state senator, 2002-present.