Heated races for Pa. auditor general, treasurer

HARRISBURG - The campaigns for the next state auditor general and state treasurer draw far less attention in this competitive election season than other statewide contests.

But it doesn't mean those jobs and who fills them are any less important.

The primary duty of the treasurer is managing the state's hefty financial portfolio - $120 billion - and the auditor general is the state's fiscal watchdog.

Incumbent Treasurer Rob McCord, a Democrat from Bryn Mawr, said he deserved a second term because he had been an adept fiscal steward during the recession and had at the same time reduced spending in his agency. His staff oversees massive public pension funds, student loan programs, and unclaimed property.

Republican challenger Diana Irey Vaughan, a Washington County commissioner, contends that McCord made risky investments and signed off on too much borrowing. She said she would take a more conservative approach to fiscal management.

Libertarian Patricia Fryman, the retired auditor of Venango County, is also on the ballot.

Whoever wins the race for the $154,334-a-year job will face the unpleasant reality of the state pension crisis, in which costs continue to outpace revenue and the legislature has yet to take action to address the issue.

McCord, 53, said he saw his role both as a chief executive officer overseeing 400 people and as the state's chief investment officer.

Despite the recession, he said, the treasury has grown, reporting $1.4 billion in revenue through smart investment strategies.

At the same time, he said, the agency reduced its operating budget by 22 percent, cutting staff and the size of the automobile fleet.

Since taking office in January 2009, McCord said, he had erased a $400 million debt in the college savings program and stepped up efforts to return cash owed to residents and businesses by aggressive outreach through the unclaimed-property program.

Vaughan, 50, the first woman elected commissioner in Washington County, in the far southwestern corner of the state, paints a different picture. She said McCord took unnecessary risks, paid out costly financial-management fees, and gave the go-ahead to $600 million in new borrowing as former Gov. Ed Rendell left office.

"The returns didn't justify the risk," Vaughan said, adding that her cautious approach had kept the county pension fund she manages healthy. "We need to make wise investments and take a disciplined approach."

The auditor general's job, meanwhile, is wide open because the incumbent, Democrat Jack Wagner, is stepping down after serving the maximum two four-year terms.

Fighting it out are two state legislators: Rep. Eugene DePasquale, a Democrat from York County, and Rep. John Maher, a Republican from Allegheny County.

Both have earned reputations in the statehouse as independent-minded men who do not mind stirring the legislative pot.

And in a move that has annoyed government reform groups, both are simultaneously running for reelection for their current House seats.

That may be where the similarity ends.

DePasquale, 41, a lawyer who grew up in Pittsburgh, said he decided to run for auditor general after Republican Gov. Corbett took office in 2011 and the GOP captured both chambers in the legislature. He said he grew weary of the cuts the administration made to public education and welfare programs for the poor, sick, and disabled during the last two budget cycles.

"I want to find real wasteful spending," said DePasquale, who was elected to the legislature in 2006, "so that money can be put back into education and protecting the environment."

If elected to the $152,443-a-year post, DePasquale said he would, on day one, order a review of how the state monitors water pollution to ensure that drilling in the Marcellus Shale hasn't tainted drinking water. He said he would also make it a priority to review job-creation programs to ensure that money is being invested effectively.

DePasquale likes to tout his personal track record of keeping spending at a minimum, often saying that he was the first legislator to post his expenses online and that he had the lowest expenses among legislators. During one of the debates in the auditor general's race, DePasquale noted that he bought his district office furniture at a yard sale.

The next auditor general will oversee a $40 million budget and an office of 556 employees.

Maher, 53, countered that he was the only candidate in the race who is an actual auditor.

His campaign slogan says it all: CPA for PA.

Maher, who was elected to the House in 1997, said he spent his professional career as a certified public accountant, starting his own CPA firm specializing in government auditing.

During his legislative career, Maher said, he successfully pushed for the first overhaul of the state's then-restrictive open records law, despite years of legislative foot-dragging on the issue. He also championed changes to Pennsylvania's lobbyist disclosure law, another issue that the legislature had been loath to act on for years.

Maher said he would be just as tough on Republican spending choices as Democratic ones.

If elected, he said, he would focus on modernizing the office's accounting practices and home in on the efficiency of state spending on the environment, education, and health care.

DePasquale, as well as Libertarian candidate Betsy Summers, argued that being an auditor was not a prerequisite for the job and that no past auditor general had been a CPA.

"Yes, John Maher is a CPA, and that is a wonderful thing," said Summers, a salesman for a veterinary supply company. "But the auditor general does not actually do audits. He or she manages the people who do the audits."

Summers added: "I am the only truly independent person who is on the ballot. I am not a representative, so I don't have contacts in Harrisburg. And, I'm sorry, if you are part of the political machine, you have to behave in a certain way. I don't."

Rob McCord

Age: 53.

Party: Democrat.

Education: Harvard, B.A., 1982.

Wharton School of Business, M.B.A, 1989.

Experience: Pennsylvania state treasurer, 2009-present. CEO/Chairman and co-founder, Eastern Technology Council; co-founder and managing director, PA Early Stage Partners; senior executive, Safeguard Scientifics Inc.

Family: Wife, Leigh; children, Jack and Grant. They live in Bryn Mawr.

Diana Irey Vaughan

Age: 50.

Party: Republican

Education: Attended West Virginia Business College; course work at Fairmont State University and California University, Pa.

Experience: Washington County commissioner, 1995-present.

Family: Husband, Robert; children, Victoria, Frank and Alexandra. They live in Eighty-Four.

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John Maher

Age: 53.

Party: Republican.

Education: Duke University, B.A., 1979; Oxford University, scholarship studies; Australian Graduate School of Management, fellowship studies, 1979-80.

Experience: Auditor, Arthur Young accounting firm, 1980-89; founded Maher Duessel, a Pittsburgh public accounting firm in 1989, sold his interest in 2004; Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1997-present.

Family: Maher is single and lives in the Pittsburgh suburbs.

Eugene DePasquale 

Age: 41.

Party: Democrat.

Education: College of Wooster, B.A., 1993; University of Pittsburgh, master's, public administration, 1997; Widener University School of Law, law degree, 2002.

Experience: Director of Economic Development, City of York, 2002-03; deputy secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 2003-06; Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 2007-present.

Family: Wife, Tracey; two children, Benjamin and Sarah. They live in West Manchester Township.

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