Joseph Khan
A record-breaking Election Day turnout in Bucks County appears to have helped the Democrats claim key county row offices—ousting the incumbent GOP sheriff and district attorney—as part of a blue sweep in Pennsylvania and across the country.
Democratic challenger Joe Khan defeated incumbent Republican District Attorney Jen Schorn, while Democratic candidate Danny Ceisler took approximately 55% of the vote compared to the almost 45% that incumbent Sheriff Fred Harran took in that row office race.
Just after midnight, unofficial results from the county showed Khan leading with 124,624 votes compared to 106,791 votes for Schorn with more than 99% of the precincts reporting.
Khan, a former assistant US attorney, is a partner in the law firm Curtin & Heefner, where he co-chairs its appellate section, fighting for voting and environmental rights. He also served as Bucks County solicitor in 2020, a position he held until last year when he ran for Pennsylvania attorney general, losing in the primary to former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
As county solicitor, Khan filed the first county lawsuit against TikTok and other social media companies for targeting children. He and his office drafted new laws, which were passed on a bipartisan basis, involving fraud, corruption and human trafficking, according to a press release.
Schorn took over the office last year to serve out the rest of the term of her boss, former District Attorney Matt Weintraub, after he was elected to the Court of Common Pleas bench. She has been a Bucks County prosecutor since 1999 and is the third woman to hold the top prosecutor position.
Since stepping in, Schorn took the lead in a few high-profile murders, including the recent solving of a cold case involving the rape and murder of Carol Ann Dougherty in a Bristol Borough church in 1962; the prosecution of Robert Atkins, who was convicted in January 2024 for the 1991 murder of his former neighbor Joy Hibbs; and leading the prosecution of triple-murder suspect Andre Gordon Jr., who is accused of a March 16, 2024 crime spree in Falls.
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