Gainey gets county Dems’ nod for mayor
The Allegheny County Democratic Committee endorsed state Rep. Ed Gainey for mayor of Pittsburgh on Sunday, giving incumbent Bill Peduto’s primary challenger the institutional stamp of approval that has been labeled a rite of passage by its longtime members — but impotent and outdated by its critics.
Mr. Gainey, who is also a committee member, won the endorsement, 326-224, over Tony Moreno, a retired police officer.
Mr. Peduto did not seek the endorsement, citing calls by many Democrats for reforms within the committee after it endorsed a state House candidate last year who had posted messages on social media in support of then- President Donald Trump, a Republican.
Mr. Gainey thanked the
committee and noted, in a post on Facebook, that it’s the “first time an AfricanAmerican has received the endorsement from the Allegheny County Democratic Committee to be Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh.”
“We will continue to make history by building a better Pittsburgh for everyone,” he wrote.
Candidates who wanted committee endorsement had to pay a filing fee and submit an official letter of intent. Several bucked the process this election cycle and, as a result, turned down the benefits that come with it, including the distribution of slate cards — a list of endorsed candidates — to Democratic voters in the county.
Exactly 1,770 ballots were cast countywide in the endorsement, but members were only permitted to vote in the primary races that will be on their ballots at home.
The only candidates who sought endorsement in races for Pittsburgh City Council — incumbents Theresa KailSmith, Anthony Coghill and Erika Strassburger — landed the committee’s backing. District 6 Councilman Daniel Lavelle did not file for the endorsement.
In races for Allegheny County Council, the committee backed the re-election bids of President Pat Catena, Vice President Bob Macey, Anita Prizio, Robert Palmosina and Paul Zavarella. It also endorsed John Betkowski in District 1, where he is challenging incumbent Republican Tom Baker.
The committee endorsed nine candidates for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. In order of vote total, they were: Elliot Howsie, Sabrina Korbel, Chelsa Wagner, William Caye II, Jessel Costa, Tom Caulfield, Bruce Beemer, Wrenna Watson and Pat Sweeney.
In the three races for magisterial district judge that saw more than one candidate compete for the Democrats’ endorsement, the membership backed Matthew Rudzki in District 0502-04, Lisa Borrelli Dorn in 05-02-19 and Mark Scorpion in 05-02-42.
Three Pittsburgh Public Schools board members — Sylvia Wilson, Terry Kennedy and Veronica Edwards — won the endorsement for their re-election bids.
Incumbents Richard Opiela, Anthony DeLuca, Roxanne Sakoian Eichler, Ralph Kaiser, Craig Stephens, James Motznik, Scott Schricker, Armand Martin, Anthony Ceoffe and Kevin Cooper were endorsed for magisterial judge. The committee also backed Jehosha Wright for District 05-02-40.
The Democrats’ pick for county sheriff was Kevin Kraus. Former state Rep. Dom Costa, also a candidate for sheriff, didn’t seek the endorsement. He cited the filing fee and how he wouldn’t feel right spending the money when “the working people who support my campaign, both financially and with their time, are struggling.”
The mayor’s race was the top billing for Sunday’s endorsement, but the incumbent mayor was notably absent. Mr. Peduto had been endorsed by the committee in his successful run for re-election in 2017. On Saturday, the two-term mayor won the backing of the Allegheny/ Fayette Central Labor Council, whose president — Darrin Kelly — is a voting member on the county Democratic committee.
Mr. Peduto’s disdain with the committee began in February 2020 when he joined other local Democrats in criticizing the endorsement process and its backing of Heather Kass, a candidate for state House who praised Mr. Trump and bashed Obamacare, among other controversial posts on social media.
Jessica Benham would go on to beat Ms. Kass and win the seat, but the endorsement split the party so deeply that it culminated in Mr. Peduto — a well-connected Democrat — rejecting the committee’s backing.
Many Democrats had also taken issue with the party’s endorsement last year of state House candidate Chris Roland, who mounted a challenge against incumbent Democrat Summer Lee, the first Black woman to be elected to state office from the region.
In a tongue-in-cheek statement after Sunday’s mayoral endorsement, Mr. Peduto framed Mr. Gainey as a committee insider and Mr. Moreno as a bandwagon Democrat.
“As expected, Rep. Gainey — a former chair of the City Democratic Committee and current committee member — was able to garner more votes than Tony Moreno — a former Republican and a Trump supporter,” Mr. Peduto said.
The mayor was alluding to the fact — first reported by the Pittsburgh City Paper — that Mr. Moreno openly praised Mr. Trump on Twitter several times from October 2018 to July 2019.
Mr. Moreno told the City Paper that he’s a lifelong Democrat whose tweets are not indicative of his current support for the party or the policies he backs.