DeFoor secured a second term as the Commonwealth’s watchdog against Democratic challenger Malcolm Kenyatta.
At 3:18am on Wednesday morning, the Associated Press called the Pennsylvania Auditor General race.
Tim DeFoor, the Republican incumbent, won a second term against Democratic challenger and State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta. Election returns show DeFoor winning the office at 51.21% to Kenyatta’s 45.87%. Kenyatta congratulated DeFoor and thanked his team through a post on social media after conceding.
DeFoor is the first Black person to hold a row office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
During the campaign for the office, DeFoor spent $346,000 since May. Kenyatta spent $816,000. DeFoor’s reelection campaign focused on eliminating wasteful government spending and closing the “honor system” loophole.
His platform said, “I’ve spent my career fighting waste, fraud and abuse to protect families, seniors and local businesses. I’m running for Auditor General to help all Pennsylvanians and ensure our tax dollars can be spent on our priorities: lower taxes, better jobs, stronger schools and improving the cost of living for families and seniors.”
Before his first term as auditor general, DeFood was an auditor for UPMC and the Dauphin County controller.
DeFoor performed well across Pennsylvania’s rural counties. He secured just 40.21% of the vote in Allegheny County. In Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, he took 51.60%, 40.30%, and 40.50% of the vote respectively.
In a successful election for Republicans, Donald Trump won the battleground state of Pennsylvania. He was ahead of Harris by 0.3 points in Bucks County.
In the past, Democratic Senator Bob Casey served as auditor general before running for a seat in the United States Senate.
