State Rep. Brian Ellis is accused of raping an unconscious women. He has resigned. However, a resignation should not be the final word. 

The Dauphin County district attorney is investigating the case on account that it falls within his jurisdiction. Despite that, I would think an incident like this, that is against a public servant, should, be on the attorney generals desk. 

I want to focus on the issue that the attorney general’s office is not investigating the matter. One would think that someone like attorney general Josh Shapiro, who has ambitions outside of our state border, would want to take on a case like this. 

If Shapiro decides to run for governor or president of the United States in the future (which he wants to), we should hold him accountable, especially if the counties district attorney decides against charges.  

Even if there is a legal problem that prevents Shapiro from investigating politics, especially those in elected life, should understand they have a bully pulpit, Shapiro is silent. Governor Wolf is silent. Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is silent. 

Not to mention Ellis is a Republican. He is not a member of the party that holds all the cards in Harrisburg. This leads me to wonder if the state had decided to elect a female governor, Laura Ellsworth, for example, would we see this same silence? I doubt it. 

If former attorney general Kathleen Kane were still the attorney general, would she use the full power of the Attorney General’s Office including the bully pulpit? 

The clearest solution to this problem would be to elect more women to office. 

Pennsylvania, for example, has never elected a female governor; we have never sent a female to the Senate. In fact, women in the state of Pennsylvania make 77.4 cents for every dollar men are paid. 

This number, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families, was actually lower in 1996. The fastest solution to many of the problems surrounding female autonomy of their bodies is for more females to be elected to office. 

I would be willing to put money on the issue that if we had elected a female governor or a female lieutenant governor, keeping in mind that many ran on the Democratic side of the aisle, we would see them speaking out. 

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