Allegheny County Sheriff Bill Mullen cruised to an easy victory in a Democratic primary election Tuesday, setting himself up for another four years as sheriff.
Sheriff Mullen defeated Pittsburgh police homicide detective George Satler by a wide margin. There were no Republican candidates in the race, although several thousand people cast write-in votes and Sheriff Mullen could face a challenge in the November general election.
READ MORE: Full Allegheny County and municipal voting results
“It’s been a tough race, really,” Sheriff Mullen said Tuesday night. “It was a lot of hard work and people pitching in.”
Sheriff Mullen said he is prepared to defend his position in the general election if a write-in candidate emerges from the Republican ticket.
“If that happens, sure I’m going to fight,” he said. “I’m not going to give up.”
Detective Satler acknowledged Tuesday that he had solicited votes from both sides of the aisle with the hopes of winning both the Democratic and Republican primaries. But he wasn’t sure on Tuesday whether he’d challenge Sheriff Mullen again in the general election if he takes the Republican write-in vote.
“If I have my name on the Republican side, would I run in November? I don’t know, I think we have to re-evaluate that,” he said, adding that he is a life-long Democrat.
Sheriff Mullen, who has served as sheriff since 2006, is generally credited with modernizing the office by digitizing records and increasing training. He said Tuesday that he plans to continue such improvements during if he secures re-election.
“The first thing I want to do is sustain the changes that we’ve made and continue to make progress with new technology,” he said.
He campaigned on his decades of experience in law enforcement and record as an administrator at the sheriff’s office, which he said has always come in under its $19 million annual budget during his tenure.
Sheriff Mullen began his law enforcement career in 1969 as a Pittsburgh police officer, working up the ranks until he reached Deputy Chief, where he oversaw the bureau’s investigations, administrative and operations divisions.
Detective Satler joined Pittsburgh police in 1994 and took leave of absence from his job as a homicide detective to run his campaign. He said Tuesday he’ll likely return to work when that leave ends.
He congratulated Sheriff Mullen on his victory and said that while he was disappointed with the results, he learned a lot about himself during the campaigning process.
“[Sheriff Mullen] ran a good race and he deserves congratulations,” he said.
Shelly Bradbury: 412-263-1999, sbradbury@post-gazette.com or follow on Twitter @ShellyBradbury.
First Published: May 17, 2017, 2:28 a.m.
