WHO’S ON YOUR BALLOT
For the first time in 12 years, the county will have a new leader. Mr. Fitzgerald, a Democrat, has served the maximum three terms and the race to succeed him has been this year’s highest-profile countywide contest. Competitive countywide races also include a general election rematch of the May Democratic primary for district attorney, as well as elections for county controller and county treasurer. Multiple County Council seats are up for re-election and many are contested. County executive
The most powerful official in Allegheny County government, the county executive leads the administration, submits legislation to County Council, and appoints key officials with Council’s approval, among other duties.
Residents could, for the first time ever, elect a woman to lead Pennsylvania’s second-largest county in Democratic nominee Sara Innamorato, a former state representative. Or they could elect the second Republican to ever hold the position in GOP nominee Joe Rockey, a former PNC executive.
The two have faced off in a series of three debates covering topics from crime and public safety to property tax reassessments and what should be done with the county’s juvenile detention center.
The race turned more contentious in October. Mr. Rockey has criticized Ms. Innamorato’s former membership in the Democratic Socialists of America, while she knocked him for staying in the GOP after events like the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (Ms. Innamorato in October denounced the DSA’s statements following Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel and said publicly for the first time that she left the group in 2019.)
Mr. Rockey has focused his campaign “on the middle,” pitching himself as a centrist candidate, while Ms. Innamorato has focused hers on “creating a county for all.” She has described herself as a “pragmatic progressive.”
A win by Ms. Innamorato would continue the wave of progressive Democratic victories in Western Pennsylvania over the last several years. But Republicans see this election as their best chance to grab the county’s top elected office for the first time since Jim Roddey was elected as the county’s first chief executive in 1999.
The candidates Sara Innamorato Joe Rockey
District attorney
Stephen A. Zappala Jr., Allegheny County’s longtime district attorney, is facing one of his most serious re-election challenges since he took office in 1998. He faces Democratic nominee Matt Dugan, the county’s former chief public defender who beat Mr. Zappala in the May Democratic primary.
The two men are headed for a November rematch after Mr. Zappala, a lifelong Democrat, secured enough Republican write-in votes to win the GOP nomination.
The district attorney is the county’s top prosecutor. Each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties has one. Mr. Zappala is largely running on his record to win a seventh term, while Mr. Dugan is campaigning on a progressive criminal justice reform agenda.
The candidates
Matt Dugan Stephen A. Zappala Jr.
County Council
County Council consists of 15 seats, and nine are up for re-election this year: two at-large seats representing all of Allegheny County, and seven district seats representing certain areas.
Few of the races are competitive. Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, a progressive who currently holds one of the at-large seats, beat Joanna Doven, a more moderate Democrat, in the primary. She doesn’t have a generalelection opponent.
Councilman Sam DeMarco, chair GOP, also is running unopposed in November to keep his atlarge seat.
One competitive race — given voter turnout in the primaries — could be in District 2, where Suzanne Filiaggi, a Republican, is running to keep her seat against Todd Hamer, the Democratic nominee. District 2 includes McCandless, Pine, Richland and Franklin Park. In District 10, DeWitt Walton, a Democrat running for a third term, is facing Carl Redwood, an independent candidate. District 10 includes Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Wilkinsburgand Forest Hills.
The candidates Sam DeMarco (R), incumbent Bethany Hallam (D), incumbent
District 2 — McCandless, Pine, Richland and Franklin Park Suzanne Filiaggi (R), incumbent Todd Hamer (D), general manager of Union Fitness gym
District 5 — Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park Mike Embrescia (R), chief development officer at Carnegie Robotics
Dan Gryzbek (D), chemical engineer
District 6 — Jefferson Hills, Whitehall and Baldwin
Sean McGrath (R), network engineer, United Steelworkers
John Palmiere (D), incumbent District 7 — Penn Hills, Oakmont and Churchill
Nick Futules (D), incumbent District 10 — Hill District, Wilkinsburg and Forest Hills
Carl Redwood (I), community activist
DeWitt Walton (D), incumbent District 11 — Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Homestead
Paul Klein (D), incumbent Eileen Lo Cunningham (R), retired software developer and substitute math and science teacher
Robert McCune (I)
District 13 — Downtown, North Side and Bellevue
David Bonaroti (D), business development consultant for Google
Sam Schmidt (I), writer and personal trainer
Pittsburgh City Council
With two longtime Pittsburgh City Council members retiring from their positions, the city’s legislative body is guaranteed to have some new faces after the November election.
Five of the nine seats are up for election this year, though with no Republicans running, the May primary winners are all but certain to win.
District 1 — North Side, Strip District, Troy Hill and Washington’s Landing
Bobby Wilson, incumbent District 3 — Hilltop, South Side and South Oakland
Bob Charland, chief of staff for outgoing District 3 Councilman Bruce Kraus
District 5 — Hazelwood, Regent Square and Greenfield Barb Warwick, incumbent District 7 — Bloomfield, Lawrenceville and Highland Park Deb Gross, incumbent
District 9 — Homewood, East Liberty and Friendship Khari Mosely, political director at 1Hood Media
City controller
For the first time in 15 years, a new city controller is guaranteed. Longtime Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb ran in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County executive, leaving the fiscal watchdog role open.
The Democratic nominee is Rachael Heisler, who has served as the city’s deputy controller since 2021 and prior to that worked as the senior adviser at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a federal fiscal watchdog group. She also has previously worked for U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
She beat out two other candidates for the Democratic nomination in the May primary.
With no Republican opponent, Ms. Heisler is all but guaranteed to be Pittsburgh’s next independently elected auditor.
County controller
Corey O’Connor, the Democratic nominee and former Pittsburgh City Council member, is running to keep his seat as controller, one he was voted into in 2022 by the state Senate.
Mr. O’Connor faces Bob Howard, who won the Republican nomination in May in a write-in campaign. Mr. Howard is retired, and a former longtime controller and accountant for PPG Industries.
The county controller is tasked with performing audits of the county’s offices and agencies, among other duties. Many regard the role as a fiscal watchdog of county funds.
The candidates
Bob Howard (R) Corey O’Connor (D)
County treasurer
The county will have a new treasurer for the first time in more than 20 years, as John Weinstein mounted an unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign for county executive instead of running for re-election.
Erica Rocchi Brusselars, a pension actuary and educator, won the Democratic nomination in May. Ms. Brusselars faces Herb Ohliger, an IT professional who won the Republican primary in a write-in campaign.
The county treasurer’s website says the office’ s“primary mission is to receive, invest, disburse and safeguard the monies of the County ,” which includes tax revenue.
The candidates
Erica Rocchi Brusselars (D) Herb Ohliger (R)
County Court of Common Pleas
Three judicial candidates crossfiled in both the Democratic and Republican primaries for the county’s Common Pleas Court, which is tasked with handling criminal, civil, family, and orphan cases in Allegheny County.
Judge Andy Szefi, who was running to retain a seat he assumed in July after the retirement of Judge Jeffrey Manning, was unsuccessful in both primaries. Anthony DeLuca and Patrick Sweeney face each other in the general election.
Mr. DeLuca, the Republican nominee, has been an assistant district attorney, a criminal defense lawyer, and a labor law attorney. Mr. Sweeney, the Democratic nominee, has spent more than 20 years in the county public defender’s office, along with service as bargaining unit secretary in the United Steelworkers Local 9002 union.
The candidates
Anthony DeLuca (R) Patrick Sweeney (D)
Pa. Supreme Court and Commonwealth Court
Voters will choose between candidates for one state Supreme Courtvacancy, two Superior Court vacancies, and one Commonwealth Court vacancy. Superior andCommonwealthcourtsaretwo appellatecourts handling different types of cases, with the state’s Supreme Court being the highest appeals court in Pennsylvania.
The state Supreme Court race has attracted national attention and millions of dollars in political spending as a high-profile clash over the future of abortion rights in Pennsylvania.
Here are the candidates for those openings in the general election:
Candidates for Supreme Court Carolyn Carluccio (R)
Daniel McCaffery (D) Candidates for Superior Court Maria Battista (R)
Jill Beck (D)
Timika Lane (D)
Harry Smail Jr. (R)
Candidates for Commonwealth Court
Megan Martin (R) Matthew S. Wolf (D)