All of a sudden, Democratic primary for Kane's seat is heating up

There is no single successful way for a politician to seek the post of Pennsylvania's attorney general.

But who expected any of the candidates in the April 26 Democratic primary to pull a page directly from the 2012 political playbook of Kathleen Kane, who is seeking a second term while awaiting trial on criminal charges?

Consider this salvo last week from Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. after former Gov. Ed Rendell endorsed one of his opponents, Montgomery County Commission Chairman Josh Shapiro.

Zappala assailed Shapiro as "fundamentally flawed for this particular office. He is a full-time politician and a part-time lawyer who has never tried either a criminal or civil case in court."

Then Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, the third Democratic challenger in the race, weighed in, saying his 24 years as a prosecutor make Zappala and Shapiro look like the junior-varsity squad.

"Steve's never been in a courtroom and Josh has never been in a courthouse," he cracked. "Their level of experience for this job, they couldn't carry my shoes."

Now consider how Kane branded her 2012 primary campaign material with the slogan, "A prosecutor, not a politician" while attacking the experience of her opponent, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy.

Murphy, a Philly guy who is now acting U.S. Secretary of the Army, passed the bar exam in Minnesota and was later admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, but had little civil or criminal courtroom experience in this state.

Kane beat him by more than 5 percentage points in the 2012 primary.

This was the anticipated course of attack this year against Shapiro, who was admitted to the state bar in 2002 and won a seat in the state House in 2004. He won a seat on the county commission in 2011.

Shapiro is "of counsel" at a Center City law firm, but hasn't practiced much law. Zappala called that a "glaring deficit."

It's getting pretty chippy, with the primary still 11 weeks away. Some math may help explain why.

Shapiro's latest campaign finance report, filed last week, showed $1.3 million on hand as of Dec. 31.

Zappala's report showed $501,900. Morganelli had $511,973 as of Dec. 31.

Kane had $246,330 in the bank but $1.6 million in debt, owed to her estranged husband, Christopher, who helped finance her 2012 campaign. The two are divorcing.

So Shapiro has more money than his three primary opponents, combined. That sort of money will paint a political target on a guy's back, pronto.

Zappala has been district attorney since 1998. Morganelli has been in office since 1992. So everyone here is a politician.

Exactly how much time do Zappala and Morganelli spend in courtrooms?

Morganelli said he has "tried to verdict 25 first-degree murder cases."

Zappala said he oversees 118 prosecutors working in 16 courtrooms, but doesn't do day-to-day work on criminal cases.

"If I've got a problem with a judge, I'm going to talk to the judge," he said. "My interaction is mostly with the court, dealing with the judges."

Zappala also had 12 years of practice in civil law before he took office.

Shapiro's campaign pushed back hard on Zappala's "hypocrisy," digging up a 1999 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article that says he admitted to spending little time in courtroom on civil cases, but "brings to the job skills of an administrator that are essential to an office" like his, sort of like a company CEO.

Shapiro, by the way, has been marketing his candidacy by stressing his "executive experience and judgment" and the Attorney General's Office's "broad responsibilities" beyond criminal cases, like consumer and environmental protections.

This was always going to be a high-profile primary, given Kane's legal mess. Shapiro, Zappala, and Morganelli - in their first engagement of the campaign - have only turned up the heat.

brennac@phillynews.com

215-854-5973@ByChrisBrennan