Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, a Democrat who was elected to his second term in November, announced his candidacy for state auditor general.

During Pinsley’s tenure as controller, he said he’s identified ways to reduce county health care costs by $70 million over 10 years, and advocated for dozens of children wrongly removed from their families by hospital networks, promoted environmental sustainability.

“We expect our attorneys general to have law degrees; we should expect our auditor generals to have relevant financial experience,” said Pinsley who is a veteran and small business owner. “I am the only candidate running with private sector executive experience managing multimillion-dollar budgets and public sector experience where I’ve done the work, saved taxpayers’ money, and used the office to advocate for change. My audits translate to impact.”

Republican Tim DeFoor is the state’s auditor general now. His term ends on Jan. 21, 2025.