The Forward Party’s Eric Settle makes the case for an ‘independent’ attorney general in PA

While Democrat Eugene DePasquale and Republican Dave Sunday are getting most of the attention in the race to become Pennsylvania’s next attorney general, voters will have at least one other option on the ballot this fall: Forward Party candidate Eric Settle. 

Settle, a former deputy general counsel for then-Gov. Tom Ridge, most recently worked as senior counsel for AmeriHealth Caritas before deciding to run for attorney general under the Forward Party banner. 

A lifelong Republican, Settle grew disillusioned with the direction of the Republican Party following the rise of Donald Trump to the point that he worked to help get Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro elected in 2022. He later served on Shapiro’s transition team as a member of the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee. 

Settle, a longtime public servant, said that becoming a Forward Party candidate gave him a unique chance to bring an independent voice to the attorney general’s office – and perhaps help create a new political path for more independent-leaning voters. 

“The fundamental thing that I talk about (with) the Forward Party is the idea: How do you solve problems from the middle?” he told City & State in an interview. “The parties have become too polarized – it’s too dangerous to compromise. You compromise, it’s capitulation. What the Forward Party wants to do is, at least initially, create a handful of elected officials who can be that fulcrum for change.”

The centrist political party was founded by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang in 2022. Its stated goals include ranked-choice voting, allowing independents to vote in primaries, and establishing independent redistricting commissions. 

Settle pledged to be an independent attorney general who could serve without being swayed by the major political parties. “This idea of an independent attorney general – someone not beholden to either team – is very attractive to people,” Settle said. “I think as we’re getting our message out to people, they get that knowing glance that says, ‘Yeah, you know what? That does make sense. Why should AGs be partisan?’ They’re not intended to be policymakers. They’re intended to be law enforcement, people who are trying to call it the way they see it, and not the way that might be influenced one way or the other.

“Both parties have very strong attorneys general associations that create agendas for their respective attorneys general around the country, and you’re expected to follow that playbook,” he added. “I think that what you really want is somebody that says what’s right for Pennsylvania.”

Settle said he would bring senior government and private law experience, as well as a management background, to the role of attorney general. “When I was in the governor’s office, I had 150 lawyers that reported to me. I’ve had the experience of having large numbers of lawyers under your (my?) responsibility,” he said.

He said one of the most important decisions he would make as AG would be whom he hires as a first deputy attorney general.

“One of the most important things I would do as attorney general would be to find a first deputy who’s a lifelong prosecutor, someone who has the criminal law background to have that piece of the puzzle that I don’t have,” he said. “Earlier in my career, I worked on some white-collar criminal issues, so I’m not completely outside the criminal justice system. But I recognize that’s not the strength I bring to the table. I bring organizational skills and leadership skills, which I think would be helpful, and again, a balance of knowledge.”

Regardless of whom Pennsylvanians select to be their next attorney general, November’s race could still have significant implications for the future of the Forward Party.

Both Settle and Chris Foster, the Forward Party’s candidate for state treasurer, obtained statewide ballot access in August. According to Pennsylvania’s Election Code, if the two candidates obtain 2% of the vote or more in November, the Forward Party will achieve minor political party status in Pennsylvania.

During a visit to Harrisburg in March to announce the party’s two statewide candidates, Yang told City & State that passing that 2% threshold would allow the Forward Party to run candidates at various levels of government. “Here in Pennsylvania, there’s a distinct goal, which is that if a statewide candidate gets more than 2% in their election, then we become a recognized party with ballot access, not just for those offices, but for offices up and down the ballot,” he said. “So that would be a marker of success.”

Settle said the next AG could end up overseeing election-related legal cases in the state following the 2024 presidential election. ​​”You hope that whatever happens in November happens in a decisive way, and that, unlike four years ago, the parties sort of agree to disagree about the outcome – but understand that that’s the way it works in America,” he said. “This attorney general – whoever gets elected in November – may have to play a role in election fights that may be still going on in the third week of January.”

As November gets closer, he wants voters to consider what an attorney general with an independent streak could do for the commonwealth. “I think the most important thing is that we, at this particular point in our history in Pennsylvania, we would benefit from some independence,” he stressed, “and that the idea of an independent attorney general is one that is worthy of their vote.”