Kathleen Kane

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane this afternoon announced that she will resign at the close of business Wednesday.

“I have been honored to serve the people of Pennsylvania, and I wish them health and safety in all their days,” she said.

Kane faced growing pressure to resign after her conviction on charges she abused the powers of the state’s top law enforcement office to smear a rival and lied under oath to cover it up.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who first called for Democrat Kathleen Kane to resign when she was charged a year ago, said in a statement shortly after the verdict that Kane needed “to do what is right.”

“As I have made clear, I do not believe Kathleen Kane should be attorney general of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I believed this when she was charged, and today, after conviction, there should be no question that she should resign immediately,” Wolf said.

Kane’s lawyers have vowed to appeal the case. Kane is not running for a second term in office.

If Kane had not resigned, the state Senate’s Republican majority leaders threatened a vote her removal from office under a constitutional provision never used in modern history. A prior vote in February narrowly failed as all but one of Kane’s fellow Democrats stood by her.

On Monday night, a Montgomery County jury convicted Kane of all nine counts against her, including perjury, obstruction and official oppression. Jail time is possible.

Kane, 50, was the first woman and first Democrat elected to the office, winning a landslide election in 2012.