Dems to endorse in council race on Steeler Sunday
Party leaders say they had little choice
Call it the ultimate political football. Because of a stepped-up special election schedule, some 80 East End Democratic committee members will be voting to endorse a Democrat in City Council District 8 this Sunday — just as the Steelers are gearing up for their playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The endorsement gathering for City Council District 8 is scheduled to take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; the kickoff in Pittsburgh’s other closely watched contest will be at 1:05 p.m. And for the candidates, it’s not just tailgating plans at stake: The tight turnaround means less time to introduce themselves to committee people who may well decide the race.
It could have been worse. On Tuesday morning, the party planned to hold the endorsement at its West End headquarters, which would compel committee members to drive across town, against gameday traffic, from the district itself. But by day’s end, the venue had been moved to Chatham University’s Coolidge Hall.
The special election will be held March 6. But the truncated schedule — the endorsement meeting was originally planned for Feb. 11 — “is leaving a bad taste in people’s mouths,” said Sam Hens-Greco, who chairs the Democratic Party’s 14th Ward. “I haven’t had anyone say to me, ‘I’m glad we scheduled this in the middle of the Steelers game.’”
The endorsement may well decide the election: In a special election, party committee members decide who will be listed as a Democrat on the ticket. That’s a prohibitive advantage in a heavily Democratic area like District 8, which includes Shadyside and portions of Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill and Oakland.
Three Democrats are seeking to replace former Councilman Dan Gilman, who took a job as Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff last week: chef Sonja Finn, executive and LGBT activist Marty Healey, and Erika Strassburger, Mr. Gilman’s chief of staff. And those candidates now have just days to meet with committee people and ask for their support — which won’t be easy, Ms. Finn said.
“It is a ‘race,’” said Ms. Finn, wryly. “And I need to make sure that the committee has time to meet me.”
Nancy Patton Mills, who chairs the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, bemoaned the timetable but said party leaders had little choice. As late as Monday, she said, party leaders had planned to endorse on Feb. 11. But that was before they realized that, under the truncated timeline for the March 6 special election, parties had only until Jan. 18 to submit their candidates to the county’s election office
for inclusion on the ballot.
That meant “we had to switch dates immediately,” Ms. Patton Mills said. “We picked Sunday so we could have a bigger window of time to vote.” And the party chose its own West End offices, she said, because it needed to lock down a venue quickly. “We’d already had trouble finding a venue when it was in February.”
“I didn’t want to be the county chair who didn’t have a Democrat on the ballot for a city council race,” she added.
The process has moved quickly. Mr. Gilman stepped down Jan. 3. Under terms of the city’s home rule charter, City Council President Bruce Kraus and city Clerk Brena Pree had up to a week to issue a writ of election setting a new date. Mr. Kraus did so the same day Mr. Gilman resigned, and Ms. Pree acted “almost immediately,” he said.
Mark Wolosik, who directs the county’s election office, said that in special elections, state law requires political parties to submit candidates’ names within 15 days of the writ being issued. That allows time for potential legal challenges, and for county workers to prepare voting machines and absentee ballots.
Given the logistical challenges, Mr. Wolosik said, “There really is not as much time as people think.”
Ms. Strassburger’s campaign declined to comment about the scheduling.
Marty Marks, a spokesman for Mr. Healey’s campaign, called the situation “an unfortunate and undemocratic process. It’s unfortunate that a candidate doesn’t have the opportunity to present their case to the committee in any kind of serious way. But it’s not particularly the fault of anyone, and we’re going to make the best of a bad situation.”
Ms. Finn had a more optimistic take. “It was troubling to me when I heard that the committee endorsement would be mid-February.” Under the county’s timeline, she said, she would have to choose whether to run as a Democrat or an independent well before knowing whether Democrats would give her that chance.
“I assume they’re trying to make this as democratic as possible,” she said.
Ms. Patton Mills expressed sympathy for “any candidate running in a special election.” But there was, she said, always another option: “Let’s move the Steelers game.”
And then she laughed.