State Sen. Rafferty to run for attorney general

State Sen. John Rafferty (R., Montgomery) plans to launch a campaign to become Pennsylvania's next attorney general on Wednesday.

Rafferty, a fourth-term senator who represents parts of Montgomery, Chester, and Berks Counties, dropped out of the 2012 race for attorney general after then-Gov. Corbett said he was backing Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed. Freed then lost to Kathleen Kane.

"There's a lot of attention being paid to this race, and a lot of enthusiasm to see a change in the direction the office is headed," Mike Barley, Rafferty's campaign strategist, said Monday.

Prosecutors are investigating Kane on allegations that she leaked confidential grand jury information to the Philadelphia Daily News to embarrass a political rival.

Rafferty, of Norristown, was a state deputy attorney general from 1988 to 1991. He is chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and vice chair of the Judiciary Committee.

He is scheduled to announce his bid at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association headquarters in Harrisburg. He is scheduled to appear with the heads of the State Troopers Association, the state's Fraternal Order of Police, and the state's Professional Firefighters Association.