This is a breaking story and may be updated.
Relatively few Allegheny County voters headed to the polls May 20 in the first election since a Pittsburgh-centric Nov. 2024 general election sent former U.S. President Donald Trump back to the White House.
In the acrimonious duel between Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor and Pittsburgh mayor Ed Gainey, O’Connor’s large mail-in vote advantage and favorable results in the southern half of the East End and most districts south of the Monongahela River proved too much for the incumbent to overcome with favorable Election Day returns. The Associated Press called the race at 10:05 p.m. with O’Connor leading Gainey by roughly nine points, 54% to 45%.
Gainey’s campaign tried to nationalize the race by calling attention to his opponent’s fundraising among conservative donors and fossil fuel interests, but O’Connor’s appeal to moderate voters, YIMBYs, and others who blamed Gainey for real and perceived issues with homelessness and crime may have helped push him over the edge. O’Connor, son of late former mayor Bob O’Connor, will enter the November general election as the heavy favorite in a contest with Republican Tony Moreno.
In the two contested Allegheny County Council races, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling handily won in her bid to succeed retiring councilor Jack Betkowski. Duquesne City Councilor Aaron Adams was poised to win the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring councilor Bob Macey in District 9.
A crowded field of nominees for the Court of Common Pleas yielded results favorable both to traditional Democrats and the progressive coalition’s “Slate of 8” candidates. Four progressive-endorsed candidates filled out the eight nominations alongside four candidates with county party-, labor-, and Bar Association-endorsed candidates. There was significant overlap in endorsements and an array of candidate backgrounds on the Democratic side of the ballot, and several Democrats also chose to run on the Republican ballot, as well.
In Pittsburgh school board races, Tawana Cook Purnell won in District 1, Erikka Grayson in District 3, and Eva Diodati in District 7. The District 9 race between incumbent Gene Walker and Allie Petonic remained extremely close throughout, with Petonic narrowly leading as the final ballots came in.
City of Pittsburgh voters of all parties also had three ballot questions to answer, two of which (Questions #1 and #3) seemed designed to prevent bids to get the city to divest from Israel. Question #2 sought to amend the city’s Home Rule Charter to prohibit privatizing the municipal water supply. Voters resoundingly voted “Yes” on all three questions.
Whether that represents the will of all Pittsburgh voters is another question — after years of increasing turnout, including during midterm and “off-year” elections, Allegheny County voters were sluggish in going to the polls this primary season. While 29% of county residents turned out in the 2021 primary that propelled Gainey to Grant St., turnout barely crested 25% this time around.
The mayor’s race nonetheless called attention to both Pittsburgh’s shifting demographics and ambivalent relationship to progressive policy goals such as inclusionary zoning. The city may be growing, but limited political engagement and dissatisfaction with the state of things combined to push out several incumbents, including Gainey, while nominating a diverse array of Democrats for a variety of offices in the Nov. 4 general election.
This article appears in May 14-20, 2025.
