In separate announcements at either end of the Commonwealth this morning, the Forward Party announced two candidates for statewide office.

The party selected Eric Settle, a Montgomery County attorney, for the position of Attorney General, while also tabbing Allegheny County’s Chris Foster for the post of State Treasurer.

Settle currently serves as Senior Legal Counsel for AmeriHealth Caritas. He was on the Shapiro-Davis transition team as a Health and Human Services committee member and also served as Deputy General Counsel to Gov. Tom Ridge.

“The Attorney General of Pennsylvania has paramount responsibilities to protect the rule of law, to help keep all of us safe in our communities, and to safeguard the integrity of our government, by rooting out corruption by public officials and protecting the fairness of our elections,” said Settle. “In fact, the next Attorney General will be crucial in safeguarding free elections in Pennsylvania.”

“Pennsylvania needs a truly independent Attorney General not beholden to either legacy party to enforce the law without fear or favor and move the Commonwealth not right, not left, but forward.”

National Forward Party co-chair Gov. Christie Whitman spoke about Settle’s extensive background for the position at an announcement in Philadelphia.

“Eric Settle‘s legal expertise, coupled with a long career of public and community service, would make him a formidable candidate for Attorney General of Pennsylvania in either of the legacy parties,” said Whitman. “Instead, he has chosen to run under the banner of the Forward Party because he knows Pennsylvanians want their Attorney General to be independent of partisan ideology in their decision making.”

Foster, a graduate of Upper St. Clair High School and Marist College, serves as a real estate sales associate and has been a tennis professional for most of his career.

“The Democrats and Republicans fight all the time over money, forgetting it’s your money,” said Foster, introducing himself to politics. “We shouldn’t let them have the job of Treasurer with its critical responsibility for watching over the integrity of the money all Pennsylvanians send to Harrisburg. A Treasurer not beholden to the political machines of either major party is one you can count on for financial accuracy and reliability.”

Forward Party national co-chair Andrew Yang praised Foster as an up-and-comer at a press conference in Pittsburgh.

“Chris Foster is exactly what this commonwealth, and this country, needs in politics and government – a young member of our community dedicated to public service, choosing to step into the arena of politics. We need more people to put themselves forward and fight for real solutions to our problems, and push us beyond the hyperpartisanship and gridlock that Democrats and Republicans too often provide.”

“We have two candidates who have signed our pledge, promising to carry out their campaigns and elected duties with a focus on the will of the voters, and to act with the highest levels of ethics and integrity,” said Christian Fyke, chair of the Forward Party of Pennsylvania. “The campaigns of these candidates will also serve to provide Forward official recognition as a political party in the Keystone State, thus allowing us to nominate similarly dedicated and principled public servants and provide better options to Pennsylvanians in future elections.”