Rozzi drops out of race for auditor general; backs Kenyatta

State Rep. Mark Rozzi is bowing out of the race to become the leader of Pennsylvania’s fiscal watchdog agency, and is planning to take a step away from politics.

The Muhlenberg Township Democrat made those announcements Wednesday morning during an event in front of Reading High School where he threw his support in the race for auditor general — the office he had been seeking — behind state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia.

Rozzi said his departure from the race, as well as from politics in general when his term concludes at the end of the year, is due to ongoing struggles with depression stemming from sexual abuse he suffered as a child.

Session after session, Rozzi had championed legislation that would retroactively extend the timeline survivors have to file civil action against their abusers. For him it has been a chance to channel his struggle with the memory of being raped by a priest as a teen into fighting for his fellow victims.

But lately, Rozzi said, the struggle has been growing.

“My own personal happiness is the priority right now,” he said. “I have been on a road back to my own healing. Unfortunately, the trauma that I suffered when I was a 13-year-old has reared its ugly head back.”

Rozzi had pledged not to run for his House seat and endorsed Jacklyn Rusnock in the primary for the 126th District seat.

“It’s been the greatest honor serving the people,” he said. “As you know, when this term ends I’m going to be turning the page to the next part of my life. There are just so many people to thank who have supported me and been pushing me forward.”

Rozzi said he is at peace with stepping away from politics, particularly knowing that a quality candidate is running for the seat he had been seeking.

“I don’t have to sit back and worry that we could be electing someone who is not capable of doing the job,” he said. “Malcolm is more than qualified to be the auditor general of Pennsylvania. I have worked next to this man and I have seen how he has grown.”

Rozzi said when he embarked on a statewide listening tour last year amid a stalemate in the state House he learned that people want a government that works for the people. He said he feels Kenyatta is the best candidate to fulfill that mandate.

“He fights for the people with a passion,” Rozzi said of Kenyatta. “He fights for the priorities that Democrats want in this commonwealth, and he has the ability to bring people together. He’s authentic and that’s what we need in Harrisburg.”

The auditor general is in charge of making sure state money is spent properly, overseeing the accounting and financial functions of the state. The position also serves as a watchdog by performing internal government audits of state agencies and by investigating fraud allegations.

Rozzi said Kenyatta has a plan to move Pennsylvania forward, and that now is the time for Democrats to unite behind him as their candidate because they cannot afford to have Republican incumbent Timothy DeFoor in office for four more years.

He lambasted the current auditor general for taking money from special interests to fund his campaign, for his decision to transfer the responsibility of conducting school district audits to the state Department of Education and for failing to examine the funding of cyber charter schools.

“He has failed Pennsylvania on many fronts,” he said.

Rozzi said he believes Kenyatta will fix those mistakes. He said there is no one else more uniquely qualified than Kenyatta to serve as the monitor of taxpayer money.