Allegheny County’s Democratic Committee declined to endorse Mayor Ed Gainey over his challengers as Pittsburgh mayoral race heats up.
Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor narrowly secured the endorsement of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee in a vote that triggered a recount. The committee’s decision not to back incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey sets up a primary race that begins in May. Gainey has recently found himself under fire for staff resignations and scandals within his administration, including alleged payments from city employees to private contractors using municipal credit cards. Mr. Gainey’s office has since denied any wrongdoing.
O’Connor, a former city councilman whose father Bob briefly served as mayor before his death in office in 2006, is looking to gain momentum as the frontrunner to block Gainey’s bid for a second term. In a statement, Mayor Gainey acknowledged the recount, but said he was “proud” of the support he received and believes there is significant energy behind his campaign.
In a social media post shortly after the vote, the committee announced plans to hold the recount on Monday to determine the final endorsement, but early indications showed O’Connor maintaining a lead over Gainey. Should the endorsement stand, it would be the second consecutive mayoral race that the committee did not endorse the Democrat incumbent. In 2021, then-challenger Ed Gainey beat out then-incumbent Bill Peduto for the endorsement. Gainey himself previously chaired the Allegheny County Democratic Committee prior to his first bid.
The Allegheny County Democratic Committee's recount Monday confirmed County Controller Corey O'Connor's endorsement for mayor nominee over incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey by a narrow margin of just four votes. https://t.co/bQXeVmHaTE
— WTAE-TV Pittsburgh (@WTAE) March 11, 2025
O’Connor’s campaign released a statement after news of the endorsement and recount broke, saying it showed the Pittsburgh community’s desire for “change.” According to recent campaign finance reports, O’Connor has also been outpacing Gainey in the fundraising department by a wide margin. O’Connor is reported to have nearly $900,000 in cash on hand, compared to approximately $257,000 for the incumbent Mayor. As recently as last week, O’Connor and Gainey sparred over accepting donations from supporters from the Republican party. Records indicate that both candidates have accepted money from Republican donors.
Sam Hens-Greco, current chair of the committee, confirmed the recount but said that it was not a requirement. “There’s nothing in the by-laws that says we have to do it,” he said. “But we’re going to do it anyway given the closeness of the result.” Hens-Greco cited previous policy to initiate a recount when the margin for error was less than 5 votes, a threshold that the 4-vote victory by O’Connor would surpass.
O’Connor acknowledged the closeness of the race but maintained that the significance of the endorsement would not be diminished by the razor thin margin. “You’re running against a sitting mayor who was the chair of the city committee, and the sitting chair endorsed him. The voters who came today are really showing what Pittsburgh wants, and that’s a change.” Gainey had previously earned the endorsement of the current Democratic chair Leeann Younger. Gainey, responding to O’Connor’s comments, called the vote “historically close” and accused some of the city’s leadership of wanting to “move backwards”, and held that his administration was continuing to move Pittsburgh forward.
