‘NEW FACES, NEW ACTIVISTS’
Political shift seen as challengers upset Costa cousins
When Democrat Sara Innamorato surged to a decisive victory in Tuesday’s primary over state Rep. Dom Costa, the onetime Pittsburgh police chief, her supporters wept. Some hugged her; others screamed. Many chanted her name.
Jim Burn, an elder statesman with 25 years in Democratic politics, recognized only a handful of the 250 people at her celebration in Sharpsburg.
“These were new faces, new activists, a whole new group of people who are impassioned about what the party needs to stand for, prepared to get involved and make change,” said Mr. Burn, a former state party chairman. “This is the type of influx and energy and participation that the Democratic Party so desperately needs — and, unfortunately, it has not gotten from the establishment wing.”
Ms. Innamorato, 32, of Upper Lawrenceville, wasn’t alone. As she captured the Democratic nomination over Mr. Costa, 66, of
Stanton Heights, for the 21st District seat in the state House, his cousin Paul Costa fell to Summer Lee, 30, of Swissvale, for the nod in the 34th. Paul Costa, 58, of Wilkins, first won that seat nearly 20 years ago.
As in similar contests in southeastern Pennsylvania, the upsets suggest a power shift that’s likely to continue, at least in the state’s biggest cities, according to political analysts. The Innamorato and Lee campaigns just plain worked hard, too, observers said.
“You have the confluence of the energy around female candidates along with the energy on the progressive end of the party that came together,” said Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia mark the “epicenter of progressivism” and “the youngest places” in Pennsylvania, resulting in more liberal triumphs — by wide margins — over moderate or conservative Democrats, Mr. Borick said.
In the Philadelphia area, state House candidates Elizabeth Fiedler and Kristin Seale sealed Democratic nominations Tuesday with backing from the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA in Pittsburgh helped Ms. Innamorato and Ms. Lee, both DSA members and firsttime candidates who veered left of the Costas.
A third state House contender supported by the Pittsburgh DSA, Kareem Kandil, lost the Democratic nomination in the 30th District to Betsy Monroe. Republican Hal English is seeking re-election to the North Hills seat.
Closer to the urban core, Ms. Lee tallied more than twice as many votes as Paul Costa; Ms. Innamorato did almost as well.
“We talked to folks who have not voted in years. We talked to new voters. We talked to independents. … We left no stone unturned,” said Ms. Lee, a law school graduate and former organizer with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. “We went everywhere. That touched people.”
Her campaign knocked on about 35,000 doors before it stopped counting a week or two ago, she said. An estimated 400 to 500 people volunteered. If she wins in November, Ms. Lee will become the first black woman elected to the House from the Pittsburgh area.
Paul Costa credited her for energizing “a lot of people.”
“I thought we did our best, and I was hoping that the good work we’ve done over the last 19.5 years … would have paid benefits,” he said when his defeat became evident. “But apparently, it didn’t.”
Losing Dom Costa from the General Assembly “would be a huge blow to police labor rights in the commonwealth,” said Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1. The FOP had endorsed the incumbent.
“He has always worked very diligently toward legislation that protected police officers physically and their labor rights,” Mr. Swartzwelder said.
While neither the 21st nor the 34th district has an announced Republican candidate, Dom Costa mounted a write-in effort for a GOP nomination. It isn’t certain yet whether that was successful Tuesday, and he issued a statement pledging not to “disappear.”
On the other side, groups including Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club rallied for Ms. Innamorato. She estimated her volunteer force drew 500 people who knocked on roughly 30,000 doors.
“I wasn’t faced with a lot of sexism or misogyny. The district was very welcoming to be represented by a woman,” said Ms. Innamorato, a consultant for nonprofit groups and government agencies. “I think people understand the scales are so out of balance.”
Women hold 41 of the 203 state House seats. Pennsylvania ranks 49th in terms of representation by women at the state level, political consultant Matt MerrimanPreston said.
“We’re seeing change elections nationwide. Typically, the races have not been going well for incumbents from either party,” said Mr. Merriman-Preston, who owns Ampersand Consulting in Lawrenceville. “A lot of it is, people are not happy with the direction we’re seeing out of Washington, what we’re seeing coming out of Harrisburg.”
Ms. Lee and Ms. Innamorato waged sophisticated campaigns as Pittsburgh and the region “have become much more progressive,” he said. “You had candidates who ran on a proeconomic-justice, prochoice, pro-environment platform, and they weren’t afraid to [talk] about gun violence and things like that.”
Neither Ms. Lee nor Ms. Innamorato trumpeted Democratic Socialists of America membership as a central campaign theme — Ms. Lee said the affiliation came up more often in press interviews — but both advocate values important to the community organizing group. Those include public education, universal health care, a higher minimum wage and abortion rights, DSA leaders said.
The Pittsburgh chapter counts about 550 members, up from fewer than 10 in November 2016. Another chapter-backed candidate, Mik Pappas, ousted another Costa, Ron, to win a district judge slot last year in the East End.
“We have a shared analysis that capitalism has done a lot of bad,” said Arielle Cohen, who co-chairs the chapter. “Everyone who’s struggling knows the system’s broken.”
Still, Mr. Borick said, the Democratic Socialist influx presents an unanswered question: whether the Democratic Party can incorporate both the DSA and moderates such as U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, who succeeded Republican Tim Murphy in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District this spring.
“I think if the party can embrace these young candidates along with candidates like Conor Lamb, it can have a really broad and successful reach within Pennsylvania and beyond,” Mr. Borick said. “The key is, can they co-exist in elections [and] in governing when they’re put together?”