PITTSBURGH — Beating a two-term incumbent in a race centered on equity, state Rep. Ed Gainey won the Democratic primary on Tuesday, which should pave the way to becoming Pittsburgh's first ever Black mayor.
Gainey was beating incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto 46% to 39% as of just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, with retired police Officer Tony Moreno garnering 13% of the vote and local ride-share driver Michael Thompson registering 1%. Nearly 99% of precincts have reported their results.
“I just called (Ed Gainey) and congratulated him on earning the Democratic endorsement for Mayor of the city of Pittsburgh. Wishing him well. Thank you Pittsburgh for the honor of being your Mayor these past 8 years. I will remain forever grateful,” Peduto tweeted shortly before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Gainey, a 51-year-old state lawmaker representing a district stretching from Highland Park to Wilkinsburg, frequently asked, "For whom is Pittsburgh most livable?" — a question that he backed with facts from the many task forces and reports Peduto commissioned to identify problems. His message seemed to match the moment, and he thanked God, his wife, his children, his mother, his stepfather and all of his campaign staff after Peduto conceded Tuesday.
"One person can't change a city. A city is changed with all of us," Gainey told his supporters. "A city is changed when we all come together to improve the quality of life for everybody. That's why I ran for mayor: because I believe we can have a city for all."
The primary election was the first since a Peduto-convened task force on policing, citing statistics on Black Pittsburghers being disproportionately impacted by police in comparison to white residents, said the relationship between Pittsburgh's police officers and the community — particularly communities of color — was "in need of urgent repair." It was also the first election since a gender equity report found that Black residents could move to almost any other similar U.S. city and have a better quality of life — an assessment that included the revelation that Black women in the city face higher rates of maternal mortality and poverty and lower rates of employment and college readiness.
Gainey ran his campaign against that backdrop, aiming to become the city’s first ever Black mayor on a platform of fighting for everyone and not just the few. He accused Peduto of breaking promises and recycling empty rhetoric while communities of color continue to suffer.
"We will work hard, not just I as mayor, but we as a community and we as a city will work to build a better city called Pittsburgh for everybody,” Gainey said. “We will embrace justice. We will do all that we have to do to make this a city that's welcoming for everybody.”
Gainey is almost certain to win in November, with no Republican filed to run in the primary and the city’s dark blue demographics making it unlikely a challenger could oust him — though it’s possible a Republican will have emerged from the write-ins.
Peduto, speaking to supporters at the IBEW union hall on the South Side to concede the election, said the city he hopes to leave to Gainey will be in better shape than when he inherited it in 2013. He said he wanted to continue that progress.
“I wanted to be able to finish the work that we have been doing of ensuring that no mayor in the future would have to worry about lead in the water that their children drink, of ensuring that our rivers would not have raw sewage in them, of ensuring a city where public safety is a combination between not only the police but the community and working together to lower violence by providing opportunity to young people,” Peduto said.
Peduto, who said it was an honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his partners in fostering changes over eight years, said he would work to elect Gainey ahead of November’s election.
Asked by reporters for an interview after his concession speech, Peduto declined, saying, “It’s Ed’s night.”
On Wednesday morning, Peduto tweeted, “Just wanted to start this morning with a heartfelt THANK YOU, to all of those who worked, gave & sacrificed to allow me to have the opportunity to fulfill my dream. I love each & everyone of you and will remain eternally grateful of your support & friendship. Wishing you peace.”
The incumbent mayor often argued that what’s actually happening in Pittsburgh is a bit more nuanced than statistics or social media would tend to suggest, and that his administration has worked to address systemic issues in a pragmatic, step-by-step fashion — forming task forces, dedicating resources, bringing community partners together and pinpointing specific problems. Not often does an incumbent mayor seeking reelection talk of the problems facing a city, but Peduto did; he’d talk of there being two Pittsburghs, one Black and one white, but disagree with activists and many in his own party on the nitty-gritty behind tackling the root of the problem.
When he faced criticism, Peduto’s common tactic was to call back to the days before he was elected mayor in 2013. He said he inherited a “broken city,” one that was bleeding population, had no structured investment in affordable housing and kept no comprehensive data on policing, among other shortfalls. Though there’s room to grow, he said progress is about building the right partnerships and dedicating time to building a more equitable city.
A plurality of Democrats from across Pittsburgh's 90 neighborhoods opted to oust Peduto, disagreeing with the incumbent’s assertion that although the city is experiencing some growing pains, part of its growth is dealing with underlying, generational issues of equity that don't have simple solutions.
Much of the talk in the race centered around the issue of policing, as Pittsburgh’s bureau finds itself at the intersection of many debates that are escalating across the country — from the moral backbone behind the use of so-called less-lethal weapons to control protests, to the applicability of use of force training, to how to hold officers accountable for their actions.
The debate was exacerbated in this particular primary because Peduto had taken significant heat from activists over his handling of the police department, an argument that Gainey amplified in his four-month campaign blitz. It was also significant in that Peduto faced a retired police officer, Moreno, who spent more than two decades on the force and who called for unleashing the department and encouraging officers to provide more services, not less. Thompson, the other Democratic challenger, made de-unionizing the police force one of his main campaign pitches.
Gainey and Peduto expressed similar opinions on what's needed to cultivate better police-community relations, but they disagreed on how it should be executed and to what extent the mayor's office has the ability to foster change.
The incumbent mayor said his administration was the first to even collect data and identify disparities facing Black residents at the hands of the police, and insisted that the answer is to use the data to bring on a different culture within the department. He said he's focused on hiring officers who see themselves as guardians, not warriors, and training them in de-escalation and community policing — and wants to use his new citizen affairs division to continue working with protesters.
Gainey countered that it didn’t change the fact Black people in Pittsburgh are treated differently by police — which the statistics back up — and said overpolicing in neighborhoods of color is an issue that needs addressed.
Gainey’s win was bolstered, in part, by ground troops from SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and One Pennsylvania — groups that had helped usher in the end of other prominent incumbencies in the region.
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(Post-Gazette staff writer Nick Trombola contributed reporting.)
