PA Press Club Luncheon – February 24, 2025

Representative Malcolm Kenyatta

Democratic National Committee, Vice Chair

Representative Malcolm Kenyatta is a third-generation North Philadelphia native and legislator currently serving in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He earned a B.A. in Public Communications and a minor in Political Science from Temple University, an M.S. in Strategic and Digital Communications from Drexel University, and completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executives in State and Local Government program. In 2023, he was appointed by President Joe Biden to chair the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans. Representative Kenyatta is a barrier-breaking public figure, becoming the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color and one of the youngest people elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018. In 2022, he became the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color to seek a U.S. Senate seat in American history. In April 2024, he made history again as the first openly LGBTQ+ person ever nominated for statewide office by a major political party in Pennsylvania when he became the Democratic nominee for Auditor General. In the general election, he earned nearly 3.1 million votes, the second-highest vote total for any Democrat on the ticket that year. In February 2025 he was elected as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Throughout his career, Representative Kenyatta has been a vocal proponent of protecting workers’ rights and rooting out government corruption and waste. He holds multiple legislative leadership roles, including as a member of the powerful State Government Committee with oversight of state agencies and elections, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Government Operations; Chair of the Financial Services and Banking Subcommittee in the Commerce Committee; and as a member of the Finance and Judiciary Committees. In 2020, he was chosen to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention alongside a group of other ‘Rising Stars, ’ and in 2024, he returned to the DNC as an individual speaker, continuing to represent the next generation of Democratic leadership. His groundbreaking political career and personal life have been the subject of two award-winning documentaries, including an Al Roker-produced feature-length film, Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn. Representative Kenyatta lives in North Philadelphia with his husband, Dr. Matthew Kenyatta, and their dog, Cleo.

PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, January 27, 2025

Mayor Ed Gainey

Mayor of Pittsburgh

Mayor Ed Gainey grew up in East Liberty and saw firsthand the economic hardships many families face in our city. Raised by a single mother, he counted on the support of his extended family and community to build a pathway to high school and college. Inspired to do the same for others, Ed Gainey discovered in college that an effective government can be a powerful tool to fight injustice and uplift communities. As a State Representative in Harrisburg he was on the front line fighting for working families, and as Mayor of Pittsburgh he’ll work everyday to make Pittsburgh a city where all can belong and contribute. Ed and his wife Michelle have three children and live in the Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, November 25, 2024

Chris Nicholas & Brittany Crampsie

Political Analysts – Post Election Review

A veteran, Republican political consultant, Christopher Nicholas is President of Eagle Consulting Group and a native of Bucks County. Chris recently produced and hosted a podcast on PA political corruption and this year launched a widely-read, twice weekly newsletter, the PA Political Digest.

Brittany Crampsie started a communications and campaign consulting firm in 2022 after serving as the Press Secretary for Senator Jay Costa and the PA Senate Democrats. Before that, the double graduate of Lehigh University also served as the Managing Editor at PoliticsPa.com, the state’s oldest political news site.

PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, October 28, 2024

Dave Sunday

Republican Candidate for PA Attorney General

District Attorney Sunday’s collaborative approach to public safety resulted in a 30% decrease in crime during his first term; reductions in the prison population by almost 40% since its peak; a reduced supervision caseload; and a recent study conducted by IUP indicates that offenders in York have the lowest recidivism rate over a 5-year period as compared to seven other counties. Additionally, since the implementation of York’s Early Termination of Probation Program, only 5% of the cases submitted recidivated within two years, resulting in a 95% success rate, now serving as a statewide model.

Dave is also a top litigator, a United States Navy Veteran and a dynamic leader who put himself through college and law school while working at UPS. Dave leads an office of prosecutors and detectives who together investigate and prosecute approximately 9,000 criminal cases annually.

After high school, Dave joined the Navy as an enlisted recruit and was deployed to the Persian Gulf, where he participated in Operation Desert Strike. Dave was also deployed to South America and conducted numerous counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean. Those four years changed his life forever. While serving, Dave learned what it takes to be an effective leader under tremendous pressure. He proudly carries on the Navy’s core principles of honor, commitment, and courage to this day.

Dave received his undergraduate degree in Finance from Penn State University in 2002 and graduated from Widener Law School in 2007. During Law School, Dave worked as a legal intern at the United Nations Office of the Secretariat in New York, where he was assigned to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

After graduation from law school, he worked as Law Clerk for the Honorable Joseph C. Adams, former President Judge of the York County Court of Common Pleas. For the last fifteen years, Dave has been a prosecutor with the York County District Attorney’s Office and prior to being sworn in as the elected District Attorney, served as the Chief Deputy Prosecutor of Litigation. In that capacity, Dave supervised Major Crime cases and the Felony Narcotics Unit. Additionally, Dave served as the Legal Advisor to the District Attorney’s Drug Task Force and York County Quick Response (a.k.a. SWAT) Team.

In 2013, Dave was appointed by the United States Department of Justice as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, where he assisted in prosecuting gang, illegal gun, and drug cases in Federal Court. During this time, Dave led the prosecution of Operation Sunrise, a large-scale multi-jurisdictional arrest and prosecution of over 100 members and affiliates of the “Latin Kings,” a violent criminal gang operating in York County.

Dave is leading York County’s fight against the heroin/fentanyl epidemic. He and the York County Coroner co-founded the York County Heroin Task Force, now the York County Opioid Collaborative, where Dave served as board chair. Dave’s leadership was also instrumental in the expansion of the District Attorney’s Drug Task Force to fight the heroin/fentanyl trade throughout the entirety of York County.

Dave protects our seniors through his role on the Elder Abuse Task Force. In addition to conducting numerous Scam Prevention seminars throughout the county, Dave has successfully prosecuted scam artists targeting senior citizens. Since taking office, Dave further strengthened this priority by appointing an elder abuse special prosecutor that collaborates with strategic partners, including the York County Area Agency of Aging.

Dave is a career litigator and has personally tried approximately fifty felony jury trials to verdict, including the successful prosecutions of over ten of the most high-profile York County murders in recent memory. Dave has obtained many First Degree Murder Convictions, including a multi-defendant gang murder, a targeted multi-victim shooting, and a domestic violence killing.

In addition to homicides, Dave has successfully tried to verdict Murder Conspiracies, multiple Attempted Murders of Police Officers, multiple Murders for Hire, Felony Narcotics Deliveries, a complex Embezzlement, Aggravated Assaults, Burglaries, Armed Robberies, Bank Robberies, Insurance Fraud Cases, Thefts and Elder Fraud Scams to name a few.

Beyond trial work, Dave is the Immediate Past President of the York County Bar Association and serves on the Board of the York County Children’s Advocacy Center. He also chairs the Education and Training Committee of the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association (PDAA) and was elected by his colleagues to the Board of Directors for both the PDAA and the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Institute. Also, Dave previously served on behalf of the PDAA on the Pennsylvania Commission for Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) statewide Mental Health and Justice Advisory Committee.

Nationally, Dave serves on the American Conservative Union’s prosecutor advisory board and has spoken across the country on effective public safety initiatives.

Additionally, Dave was a founding member of the York Group Violence Initiative (GVI) and now serves on the governance committee. He is a key leader with the Community Action for Recovery and Diversion (CARD) initiative and his office co-chairs the York County Reentry Coalition.

In January 2020, Dave was appointed by Speaker of the House Mike Turzai to the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and was subsequently re-appointed by Speaker Bryan Cutler. DA Sunday is the only prosecutor on the commission, comprising state judges, members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and State Senate, legal professors, and a criminal defense attorney.

Since he was elected District Attorney, Dave has been called upon to provide expert testimony on the heroin epidemic and human trafficking before the York County State House Delegation Public Hearing on Human Trafficking; the US House of Representatives – Committee on Homeland Security – Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency; the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Law & Justice Committee; and the Pennsylvania State House Majority Police Committee.

Dave has received multiple awards recognizing his dedication to public service including:

  • Widener University Commonwealth Law School Excellence in Public Service Award – 2018
  • York County Economic Alliance: Spirit of York County Awards – Elected Official of the Year – 2019
  • US Department of Justice: Middle District of Pennsylvania – Cooperative Law Enforcement Award – 2020

Dave is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, American Legion, and the VFW.
Dave lives with his wife and son in Spring Garden Township, York County.