The tradition of Labor Day symbolizing the launch of a contentious campaign season might not mean much in Pittsburgh this year, at least for the race at the top of the ticket.
But that doesn’t mean Democratic mayoral nominee Ed Gainey is taking his stark advantage for granted, nor that his Republican opponent -- Tony Moreno — is giving up hope that he can win in a city that hasn’t elected a GOP mayor since Herbert Hoover was in the White House.
Such is reality in Pittsburgh, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 5-to-1 ratio and where it might seem that whoever wins the Democratic primary directly ascends to the mayor’s office on Grant Street.
Since the primary election in May, Mr. Gainey has been quietly building relationships with city council members and listening to the residents he hopes he’ll soon lead.
Mr. Moreno, on the other hand, has been banking on enough Pittsburghers becoming tired of the status quo to topple the Democratic establishment.
Mr. Gainey, who hasn’t done many media interviews since ousting incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto in the primary, is showing his face at as many community events as he can — hosted, on many occasions, by city council members.
The 51-year-old state lawmaker said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Saturday that even though he’s a Democrat facing a Republican in a dark-blue city on Nov. 3, he must convince voters that Pittsburgh can become the country’s most safe, affordable and diverse city.
“The message has to remain the same and I have to say it every day,” Mr. Gainey said. “It's not that I say it to myself. If I don't say it to over 150 people a day, then I didn't go to work.”
Mr. Moreno, a retired city police officer who unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary but garnered enough write-in votes to get on the general election ballot as a Republican, said he knows it’s been nearly a century since Pittsburgh elected a Republican mayor. But an incumbent Democrat wasn’t supposed to lose, either, he said, and that happened in May.
He can pull off the improbable, he said in an interview last week, by walking the streets, talking to voters on the ground and stressing that he’ll be an independent voice for Pittsburghers who feel they don’t have a voice in city government.
“I'm not talking about political things,” Mr. Moreno said. “I’m talking about Pittsburgh things.”
At times, that approach has proven unconventional. He’s been spotted in Bethel Park — which is outside the city — at meet-and-greets for Republicans who, among other things, advocate for overturning the 2020 presidential election and who recently hosted state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a leading proponent of a forensic investigation of the election.
He’s also started to film campaign videos at the scene of crimes in Pittsburgh in an effort to stress law and order and the need to get control of “lawlessness.” He advocates giving police officers more flexibility, and alleges that the Peduto administration has held them back.
Mr. Gainey, too, has been talking about crime and told attendees at a recent community meeting that he sees violence as a public health problem, not just a matter of public safety. The answer, he reasons, is not to put more police officers on the streets, but to eradicate violence at its roots.
“If we want to be proactive, we have to look at violence as a pandemic,” Mr. Gainey said in the interview, insisting that to break the cycle of violence, it’ll take involving Pittsburgh's nonprofit, philanthropic and corporate communities to cultivate peace in the streets and create a public health plan.
The Democratic nominee has been touring council districts to listen to residents directly, and said he doesn’t want neighborhoods to feel like they’ll be neglected in his administration. He’s done this alongside city council members, all but one of whom supported Mr. Peduto in the primary.
Mr. Gainey said he’s told every council member that he respects their decision to endorse the outgoing mayor, and that there are no hurt feelings.
“I’ve been clear with them that I hold no ill will, no animosity,” Mr. Gainey said. “I just want to work with them to build an inclusive city.”
Bethany Hallam, a county councilwoman who was one of Mr. Gainey’s first endorsers, said Mr. Gainey isn’t taking the race for granted, and that though his chances of losing are slim, it’s important to build relationships. She said she’s given him advice: build bridges, even with those who “weren’t there to help you when you needed them.”
Ms. Hallam said Mr. Gainey should also remind Democrats that they need to show up in November, not only because he’s on the ballot, but because there are important statewide races, school board seats and municipal contests the party needs to win.
“We need every single one of Ed’s supporters and every single person who supported Peduto in the primary to come out and vote for them,” Ms. Hallam said, referring to down-ballot Democratic candidates.
This is important for Republicans, too, said Sam DeMarco, chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County. And it’s why his party has made an effort to recruit candidates for races in which Republicans have massive voter registration disadvantages, like in Pittsburgh, he added.
Mr. DeMarco said the right Republican candidate in the primary would have had a prime opportunity to make a case against Democrats in Pittsburgh this year. But no one ran.
He said people aren’t happy with city leadership, and that the city is facing problems with crime, homelessness, snow removal and potholes, among other things.
To hammer those points home, the GOP wanted to field a candidate for mayor, and though the party couldn’t convince its original target — whose name he didn’t volunteer — Republicans were handed Mr. Moreno’s write-in candidacy by the voters, Mr. DeMarco said.
“What I didn't want to have happen was for Peduto to get a pass after that primary and all these problems to just drop from public light because nobody was talking about them,” Mr. DeMarco said. “That's why we were excited when Moreno won the write-ins.”
The last time a Republican was on the ballot for mayor in a general election in Pittsburgh — in 2013— the Democrat, Mr. Peduto, won about 39,600 votes. The Republican, Josh Wander, got about 5,000.
As a write-in Republican in May, Mr. Moreno received 1,379 votes.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; Twitter @julianrouth
First Published: September 5, 2021, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: September 7, 2021, 3:29 p.m.
