It’s that time of year. Newspapers around PA are backing candidates. Here’s PoliticsPA’s running list of endorsements for the April 26th primary contests. We’ll update as they come in.

Did we miss one? Please email the link to [email protected].

Philadelphia Inquirer

President: Hillary Clinton

Such self-inflicted controversies dampen the enthusiasm that should attach to a candidate who is not only thoroughly qualified for the presidency but also historically unprecedented by the long line of men who have occupied it. To paraphrase a Republican, Sanders may have “the best words” in this contest, but HILLARY CLINTON is better prepared to lead her country.

President: John Kasich

Granted, many voters want to send a message this year: The status quo isn’t working. But getting things back on track starts with some basics – working well with others, doing your homework, standing up to bullies, and treating others as you expect to be treated – and requires a candidate with the best chance of running a competitive campaign in the fall. For Republicans on Tuesday, that candidate is JOHN KASICH.

Senate: Joe Sestak

JOE SESTAK, a former Navy admiral who served two terms in the House, has the best credentials and experience to immediately serve Pennsylvania and the nation. His unrelenting intellectual curiosity has helped Sestak, a notoriously hard taskmaster, form a deep understanding of government and foreign policy that Katie McGinty and John Fetterman cannot match.

Attorney General: Josh Shapiro and John Rafferty

But the Democrats’ most compelling candidate, with a record of competent management, political independence, and reform-mindedness, is JOSH SHAPIRO. As chairman of the Montgomery County commissioners, he has shown he can inherit a fiscal and political mess and restore order. He has worked with the opposite party in that post and a precocious stint as a state representative, which also saw him take a bold stand for integrity in defiance of Democratic leaders. His campaign has appropriately emphasized ethics and the untapped potential of the Attorney General’s Office to advocate forward-looking environmental and education policy.

State Sen. JOHN RAFFERTY possesses the political seasoning and pragmatic bent to make the Attorney General’s Office work again. The Montgomery County native distinguished himself as a politically courageous problem-solver by championing legislation to raise fuel taxes and restore dangerously depleted transportation funds. He has also accumulated extensive knowledge of law enforcement policy on the Judiciary Committee and worked as a deputy attorney general and lawyer in private practice.

PA-2: Dan Muroff

Dan Muroff, a Northwest Philadelphia activist, party leader, lawyer, and lobbyist, has substantial experience as a congressional aide and passion for taking on the gun violence plaguing the district. He has also led environmental, community, and gun control organizations.

Experience is valuable, but the Second District also needs a departure from past experience. DAN MUROFF offers the best combination of both.

PA-7: Mary Ellen Balchunis

In the Seventh District Democratic primary, MARY ELLEN BALCHUNIS is the better candidate. The La Salle University political science professor’s attention to detail would benefit the heavily gerrymandered district, which includes most of Delaware County and parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks, and Lancaster Counties.

PA-8: Steve Santarsiero

In the Eighth District’s Democratic primary, the better candidate is STEVE SANTARSIERO, whose heavily Republican legislative district is inside the congressional district. He is already well versed on the issues facing its residents, including job creation. And he is an able advocate for campaign-finance reform and tougher gun laws.

PA-8: Brian Fitzpatrick

Warren and Duome make a good point about the party’s endorsement process, but it doesn’t invalidate the fact that BRIAN FITZPATRICK has attributes that would likely make him more effective in Washington. His national security background would be an asset in Congress. Fitzpatrick could be more up to speed on local issues, having been absent from the district for several years, but family ties and frequent visits have kept him informed.

Philadelphia Daily News

PA-Sen: Katie McGinty

We favor McGinty for the biggest difference she would bring: She would help alter the serious gender gap in the Senate, where only 20 of the 100 members are female.

And if you think that doesn’t matter or that we’re reaching for empty gestures of political correctness, we invite you to review the battles Congress has initiated over Planned Parenthood and women’s access to reproductive health care, including birth control.

Attorney General: Stephen Zappala

In the Democratic race for attorney general we favor Stephen Zappala Jr., who has served as district attorney in Allegheny County since 1998.

PA-2: Dwight Evans

In the 2nd Congressional District, the choice is easy. We favor state Rep. Dwight Evans. A veteran with decades of experience in Harrisburg, Evans is a man of substance, a hard worker and a policy wonk, who is also a practitioner of practical politics. We believe he would be just as effective in Congress.

As to Fattah, he deserves the presumption of innocence in the face of the serious corruption charges against him. We simply feel it is time for him to move on.

Philadelphia Tribune

President: Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders offers an inspiring message and bold vision for America without the excessive baggage of Clinton, which is why Sanders is our choice for president in the Democratic primary.

President: John Kasich

In the Republican primary, Ohio Governor John Kasich, a conservative who has worked with African-American state legislators on police reform is easily the best GOP choice.

Senate: Joe Sestak

There are several Democrats seeking to replace Toomey in the Senate. We endorse Joe Sestak, former Navy admiral and former congressman, to be the Democratic nominee. Sestak lost to Toomey in a close election in 2010, despite having many Democratic Party leaders opposed to him because of his independence. Sestak did well in an election year where Republicans rode tea party anger against Obama to take control of Congress. On the issues, Sestak and his closest rival, Katie McGinty, are not far apart, but Sestak has the experience and proven record in Congress.

PA-2: Chaka Fattah

Fattah is constitutionally entitled to due process. Former congressmen have been indicted on racketeering charges before and have been acquitted. It would be a disservice to Fattah’s years of public service and his constituents if Fattah was abandoned now only to be found innocent of the charges against him.

Attorney General: Josh Shapiro

Fortunately, Kane has decided not to run for re-election.

We believe the best person in the Democratic primary to replace her is Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro. Shapiro, chairman of the board of the third-largest county in the state, chairman of the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and a former four-term state representative, has the management, legislative experience and demonstrated intelligence and integrity needed to reform the Attorney General’s Office.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Senate: Joe Sestak

Democrats who want a formidable challenger to take on U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey in November should nominate the person who nearly beat the Republican six years ago: former congressman and three-star admiral Joe Sestak.

Attorney General: John Rafferty

For his broad-gauge interest in effective laws, his abiding concern for victims and his eagerness to team up with local crime fighters, John Rafferty Jr. has distinguished himself as the better choice for the Republican nomination and has earned the Post-Gazette’s endorsement.

Attorney General: Stephen Zappala

This time the party should choose a winner. Stephen A. Zappala Jr. is seeking the nomination for a chance to end the disconnect between people and the criminal justice system. The Post-Gazette endorses him in the April 26 primary.

Harrisburg Patriot-News

Attorney General: Stephen Zappala

For Democrats, we endorse the veteran Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr.

A member of a politically connected western Pennsylvania family, Zappala, 58, has served as Allegheny County’s top prosecutor for 18 years, overseeing an office of 250 employees.

In an interview with the PennLive/Patriot-News Editorial Board, Zappala sketched out a vision of an office that straddles the line between hard-nosed criminal prosecution and one that would use its civil tools to protect Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens – its children and elderly.

Zappala wants to fight Pennsylvania’s heroin scourge, but believes in treatment, not jail, for nonviolent offenders. He wants to fight both corporate and political corruption and called for tough enforcement of consumer protection and oversight of charities.

Critically, Zappala wants to restore both the morale and credibility of the office, telling PennLive that setting a strong example for those who work for him would go a long way toward doing that.

“The first order of business will be to restore confidence in that office,” he said. “That’s one of the most important things a prosecutor does.”

Attorney General: John Rafferty

On the Republican side of the ledger, long-serving state Sen. John Rafferty of Montgomery County, is the best pick for GOP voters who are no doubt looking forward to recapturing the AG’s office after four years of Democratic control.

A 12-year veteran of the Senate, Rafferty has previously worked in civil practice, where he focused on municipal, business and real estate law. He served three years as a deputy attorney general, where he worked on Medicaid fraud cases.

During his tenure in the Senate, Rafferty led the successful push for a bipartisan transportation funding bill that depended on an unpopular fuels tax to raise billions to repair Pennsylvania’s badly frayed bridge and highway system. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Rafferty played a role in creating many of the laws he would be called upon to enforce.

PA-Sen: John Fetterman

That makes John Fetterman the best choice for Democratic voters in search of an aggressive advocate who will not only safeguard their interests, but pose a credible challenge to Toomey.

And in a year of unconventional candidates, the very unconventional John Fetterman is the advocate Pennsylvanians need and deserve.

Bucks County Courier-Times

PA-8: Brian Fitzpatrick

We believe Fitzpatrick is more reflective of Bucks County Republicans than the other candidates. And that he brings to the table sterling credentials and, despite his lack of political experience, an uncommon awareness of and well honed positions on the important issues of the day. For these reasons the Courier Times Editorial Board recommends Brian Fitzpatrick to Republican voters.

PA-8: Steve Santarsiero

Bucks Democrats are fortunate to have two desirable candidates to choose from in selecting a nominee for the Eighth District congressional race.

If elected to Congress, Santarsiero says his priorities would include protecting the environment, with a focus on climate change; investing in education, early childhood education in particular, with a similar emphasis on college affordability; economic security for the middle class, including workforce development; and gun safety.

On guns, Santarsiero has been a vocal advocate of universal background checks for all gun purchasers. He would work to improve federal gun laws, including reinstating a ban on the sale of assault weapons.

Most members of our editorial board consider Santarsiero’s experience an asset that Naughton’s similar ideas and freshness cannot match. And so the Courier Times Editorial Board recommends Steve Santarsiero as the Democratic Party nominee for Congress.