Law360 (November 4, 2020, 4:28 PM EST) -- The Republican challenger looking to unseat Pennsylvania's sitting attorney general asked her opponent Wednesday to step aside from participating in work on any legal challenges related to the election that his office might be called upon to handle.

Heather Heidelbaugh, who held a sizable lead in the attorney general's race going into Wednesday morning as counties continued to tally the state's over 2.5 million mail-in ballots, said that Attorney General Josh Shapiro's clear interest in the outcome of the election meant that he needed to name a deputy to handle any disputes that could crop up in court.

"We are encouraged by the early results of Tuesday's vote, but it is essential that every legal vote be counted, and that the process be beyond question," Heidelbaugh said in a post on Twitter. "That means that Josh Shapiro cannot be seen as having his thumb on the scale, acting in the dual roles of legal arbiter of the vote and a candidate deeply invested in its outcome."

Shapiro and his office have represented state election officials in litigation over Pennsylvania's expansive new mail-in voting system this year, including a case in which the state's Supreme Court agreed to grant an extension allowing ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if received by 5 p.m. Friday.

Republicans have since appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where at least four justices have signaled a willingness to ax the extension.

In the meantime, Shapiro has faced criticism after Twitter posts in which he lashed out at President Donald Trump for his repeated attempts to try to cast doubt on mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, including one in which he said, "If all the votes are added up in PA, Trump is going to lose."

Heidelbaugh called out the post in her own Twitter thread Wednesday morning.

"On the eve of the election, Josh Shapiro even went as far as to declare on social media that President Trump would lose Pennsylvania," she said. "The outcome of these elections in Pennsylvania must not be muddled with this glaring conflict of interest."

The office said in a statement to Law360 on Wednesday afternoon that, for the time being, Shapiro had no intention of stepping aside.

"The Office of Attorney General assesses potential conflicts on all cases and we will continue to follow that process," the statement said. "The attorney general will do his job, pursuant to the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, and represent the Department of State in all cases, including election-related litigation."

Heidelbaugh, a partner with the Pittsburgh-based Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl LLC and one-time Allegheny County councilwoman, is looking to unseat Shapiro after eight years of Democratic control over the office of attorney general beginning with Kathleen Kane's election in November 2012.

--Editing by Abbie Sarfo.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.