A powerful Democrat mayor in Pennsylvania was unseated by a moderate challenger after primary voters delivered a resounding request for a new direction in their city.
Ed Gainey, the mayor of Pittsburgh, lost Tuesday night’s election to Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, which pitted the challenger’s pragmatism and vision against Gainey’s defense that he has delivered on progressive promises for voters during his first term.
With 96% of the votes counted, O’Connor leads Gainey 53%-47%, the AP reports, a margin wide enough to call the election.
“I entered this race with a simple message: That Pittsburgh deserves better,” O’Connor said at his election night party on Tuesday. “I looked around the city as a father of two young kids and I was concerned. Concerned about rising crime. Concerned about the lack of opportunity. Concerned about the looming financial crisis.”
“Our message has always been that Pittsburgh should be every family’s first choice,” he added. “We have to start believing in ourselves again, Pittsburgh. And we will do that.”
The race garnered national attention as progressive activists rushed to aid Gainey in the final days. Tuesday’s election was one of the first opportunities for the far left to protect a Democratic incumbent they believe was elected to advance far-left policies like sanctuary cities, defunding the police, and other wish-list items that elected officials find difficult to implement.
The race also occurred in the wake of Republican ads during the 2024 election that focused heavily on urban crime and runaway illegal immigration in Democratic-controlled cities like Pittsburgh.
In a statement to NBC News, Gainey said that while the defeat “isn’t what we hoped for, our people-powered movement in Pittsburgh is stronger than it’s ever been before thanks to every person who was part of this campaign to build a city for all.”
“And that means Corey O’Connor must be ready to carry forward the transformational progress the people of this city demand and that he promised in his campaign,” Gainey added. “The progress my administration delivered on affordable housing, policing, and community investments set a new bar that Corey will be expected to build upon.”
“From the bottom of my heart — thank you, Pittsburgh,” his statement continued. “Let’s keep fighting for each other.”
Gainey and his allies unsuccessfully tried to portray O’Connor, the son of a former mayor, as too similar to President Donald Trump and beholden to special interests. However, those attacks didn’t stick as O’Connor pivoted to point toward Gainey’s unproductively in office and failure to manage city finances, including sizable bills for the police budget and underfunding for quality of life issues.
The results bring Gainey, the city’s first black mayor, full circle after he in 2021 defeated Mayor Bill Peduto as a challenger during the Democratic primary.
“This has been a wonderful four years,” Gainey said in his concession speech. “We didn’t put a crack in the glass ceiling, we shattered it.”
