DePasquale was elected by the party to replace Sharif Street.
Eugene DePasquale has been elected as the new chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.
DePasquale, a former two-term state auditor general and state representative, will replace Sharif Street who stepped down in August to run for Congress. He is seeking to fill the 3rd Congressional District seat after U.S. Representative Dwight Evans, a Democrat, retires.
DePasquale is an attorney and a political science instructor at the University of Pittsburgh.
In November, he ran for state attorney general and lost to Republican Dave Sunday of York.
On Saturday, DePasquale addressed state committee members. He said he is committed to helping the party retain control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and offered plans to win back voters who have drifted away from the Democratic party.
“We’ve got to listen, we’ve got to learn, and we have to offer real ideas to win them back,” said DePasquale.
DePasquale will serve for the remaining nine months of Street’s term. Afterwards, in June, the party can re-elect him to a full four-year term.
He plans to address fundraising and voter registration problems for Democrats in Pennsylvania.
As of July, the party had only $62,000 in its federal fundraising account, and $40,000 in its state committee account.
On Friday, Democratic U.S. Senator John Fetterman announced plans to give $100,000 to the Democratic Party. He voiced his support for DePasquale.
“Eugene will plan an important role in organizing and supporting our local parties in all 67 counties – and the dude can,” said Fetterman on social media.
According to state records, Democrats have seen a steady decline in voter registration in Pennsylvania since 2009. Republicans and independents have seen increases in voter registration.
Philadelphia City Councilmember Jim Harrity said the party is working to increase voter registration through phone banking ahead of judicial retention races.
