Former Philadelphia and Montgomery County Chief Public Defender Keir Bradford-Grey is running for Pennsylvania Attorney General, per an announcement she made on Wednesday, June 21. 

“It's official: I'm running to be Pennsylvania's next Attorney General,” she tweeted. “There is so much on the line, from the safety of our communities to women's rights and healthcare. Pennsylvanians deserve a champion.”

With her extensive background in public defense, Bradford-Grey is looking to change the common understanding of the role of attorney general, “and why different people with different skills and different leadership opportunities fit in it.” 

“I'm a first-generation college graduate and the first African American woman to run the nation’s fourth largest public defender’s office. I know the challenges our communities are facing because I've experienced them firsthand,” she added. “That is why I'm running for Attorney General.”

The Pennsylvania-based lawyer is the third candidate to enter the 2024 Democratic primary race for attorney general and would become the state’s first Black attorney general and first Black woman to hold a statewide elected office, if successful in her bid. 

The winner would replace first-year Gov. Josh Shapiro who was attorney general before winning the governorship in last year’s elections, and Michelle Henry, Shapiro’s former deputy who was appointed to replace him, but is not running for a full term. 

Shapiro, when he was serving as Montgomery County commissioner, chose Bradford-Grey in 2012 to be Montco’s chief defender. 

For her, a win could lead to higher positions as two of the state’s last three governors first served as attorney general. She’d also be the first attorney general who spent most of her legal career as a public defender.

Before running the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Bradford-Grey, 48, was the first African American woman to lead Montgomery County’s public defender office.

Her bid already has the support of former Philly Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins who expressed his support for the new candidate in a tweet. 

“I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for your incredible dedication to the security of public safety and upholding human rights,” he wrote. “Your inspiring work sets a shining example for us all. Thank you for your unwavering commitment!”

Bradford-Grey, who believes she could help solve the city’s public safety issue by looking at it from a “holistic perspective,” and address the root causes of crime in the hopes of preventing anyone from entering the complex U.S. legal system. 

She previously led over 500 staff members with a $50 million budget at Philadelphia’s Defender Association for five years. 

During her time there, she built coalitions to offer alternatives to the juvenile legal system through the county’s Big Brothers Big Sisters initiative. 

She advocated for correcting racial disparities in the criminal legal system and provided alternative pathways to incarceration and led the Defender Association in its work to free incarcerated people from city jails under emergency motions during the early throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Bradford-Grey also led the city’s Pre-Entry Initiative, which connects people after they’ve been arrested to social services to avoid jail time or cash bail. She would leave in 2021 to become a partner at Center City law firm Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP, where she advised businesses, educational organizations, and nonprofits.