Allegheny County voters will choose their next county executive on Nov. 7, but that’s not all. Voters will also elect a new district attorney, county treasurer, County Council members, and judges, while some Pittsburgh residents will have City Council members on their ballots.
The most consequential race is for the county’s top elected position. Outgoing Executive Rich Fitzgerald is term-limited, making this the first time in 12 years the county is guaranteed to have new leadership. The job, which currently pays about $142,000 annually, oversees a sprawling county government of roughly 7,000 workers with a $3 billion budget.
November also brings a heated rematch in the race for district attorney, between the longtime incumbent and the county’s former chief public defender.
Whether you’re voting for the first time, updating your party registration, or looking for candidate information, this guide offers a comprehensive how-to for the county’s 2023 election season.
How to vote
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Nov. 7. If you are in line to vote before 8 p.m., elections officials are required to let you vote.
Polling locations can be found through a Pennsylvania Department of State website dedicated to voter services. Voters casting their ballots at a precinct for the first time need to bring an acceptable form of identification, as outlined by the state.
Voters must be registered by Oct. 23 to vote this November. Registration applications can be submitted online. The Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections, lets residents check their registration status online.
Voters can also request a mail or absentee ballot until Oct. 31. While mail and absentee ballots are technically different, they are functionally the same. Any registered voter can request a mail ballot without giving a reason.
Completed mail ballots must be received by the county by 8 p.m. on Election Day. They can be returned by mail or dropped off at the Elections Division in the County Office Building at 542 Forbes Avenue Downtown. The office will have extended return hours the week of the election. Drop boxes will be set up at the County Office Building closer to Election Day.
If applying for and submitting a ballot by mail, make sure you leave plenty of time to receive it, fill it out, and send it back in time for it to arrive on Election Day.
If voting by mail, make sure to carefully follow the instructions: Sign and date the declaration on the outer mailing envelope, and also put your ballot inside the inner “secrecy envelope.” Ballots submitted without the inner envelope are commonly referred to as “naked ballots” and can be rejected.
If you plan on hand-delivering your ballot, you can return only your own ballot — unless a voter has a disability and has designated you to deliver it for them with the appropriate signed forms.
Voters who requested but did not return mail ballots can surrender their ballot and mailing envelope at their polling place, then vote on the machine in-person. Or they can vote by provisional ballot at the polling place. (Provisional ballots are paper ballots that are only counted after elections official ensure the voter hasn’t already voted.)
“Over-the-counter” voting began on Oct. 10 in the lobby of the County Office Building. This is effectively mail voting without the mail: Voters go to the Elections Division office and apply for a mail ballot. This application is the same as the one found online and can be completed in advance.
Voters can receive their mail ballot right there, fill it out, and return it to an elections worker at the office. A space is being set aside in the lobby area for voters to complete their ballots in private.
Who's on your ballot
For the first time in 12 years, the county will have a new leader. Mr. Fitzgerald, a Democrat, has served the maximum three terms and the race to succeed him has been this year’s highest-profile county-wide contest.
Competitive county-wide races also include a general election rematch of the May Democratic primary for district attorney, as well as elections for county controller and county treasurer. Multiple County Council seats are up for re-election and many are contested.
County Executive
The most powerful official in Allegheny County government, the county executive leads the administration, submits legislation to County Council, and appoints key officials with Council’s approval, among other duties.
Residents could, for the first time ever, elect a woman to lead Pennsylvania’s second-largest county in Democratic nominee Sara Innamorato, a former state representative. Or they could elect the second Republican to ever hold the position in GOP nominee Joe Rockey, a former PNC executive.
The two have faced off in a series of three debates covering topics from crime and public safety to property tax reassessments and what should be done with the county’s juvenile detention center.
The race turned more contentious in October. Mr. Rockey has criticized Ms. Innamorato’s former membership in the Democratic Socialists of America, while she knocked him for staying in the GOP after events like the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (Ms. Innamorato in October denounced the DSA’s statements following Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel and said publicly for the first time that she left the group in 2019.)
Mr. Rockey has focused his campaign “on the middle,” pitching himself as a centrist candidate, while Ms. Innamorato has focused hers on “creating a county for all.” She has described herself as a “pragmatic progressive.”
A win by Ms. Innamorato would continue the wave of progressive Democratic victories in Western Pennsylvania over the last several years. But Republicans see this election as their best chance to grab the county’s top elected office for the first time since Jim Roddey was elected as the county’s first chief executive in 1999.
The candidates
More reading
- Running a good race might not be enough for Joe Rockey to beat Sara Innamorato in the race for county executive
- Joe Rockey raised more than double the money Sara Innamorato did in the race for Allegheny County executive
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‘It’s going to be close’: The race for Allegheny County executive enters the homestretch
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Innamorato and Rockey clash on crime and abortion during second debate in county executive race
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The race for Allegheny County executive is getting heated – on and off the airwaves
District Attorney
Stephen A. Zappala Jr., Allegheny County’s longtime district attorney, is facing one of his most serious reelection challenges since he took office in 1998. He faces Democratic nominee Matt Dugan, the county’s former chief public defender who beat Mr. Zappala in the May Democratic primary.
The two men are headed for a November rematch after Mr. Zappala, a life-long Democrat, secured enough Republican write-in votes to win the GOP nomination.
The district attorney is the county’s top prosecutor. Each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties has one. Mr. Zappala is largely running on his record to win a seventh term, while Mr. Dugan is campaigning on a progressive criminal justice reform agenda.
The candidates
More reading
- A rare rematch in the race for Allegheny County district attorney comes down to crime and voters in the middle
- The unusual Republican campaign to re-elect Allegheny County’s longtime Democratic DA
- George Soros has now spent almost $2 million on Matt Dugan’s campaign for Allegheny County DA
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Strange bedfellows: Primary loss forces Zappala to forge unconventional alliances
County Council
County Council consists of 15 seats, and nine are up for reelection this year: two at-large seats representing all of Allegheny County, and seven district seats representing certain areas.
Few of the races are competitive. Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, a progressive who currently holds one of the at-large seats, beat Joanna Doven, a more moderate Democrat, in the primary. She doesn’t have a general election opponent.
Councilman Sam DeMarco, chair GOP, is also running unopposed in November to keep his at-large seat.
One competitive race — given voter turnout in the primaries — could be in District 2, where Suzanne Filiaggi, a Republican, is running to keep her seat against Todd Hamer, the Democratic nominee. District 2 includes McCandless, Pine-Richland and Franklin Park. In District 10, DeWitt Walton, a Democrat running for a third term, is facing Carl Redwood, an independent candidate. District 10 includes Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Wilkinsburg, and Forest Hills.
The candidates
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Sam DeMarco (R), incumbent
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Bethany Hallam (D), incumbent
District 2 — McCandless, Pine-Richland, and Franklin Park
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Suzanne Filiaggi (R), incumbent
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Todd Hamer (D), general manager of Union Fitness gym
District 5 — Upper St. Clair, Mount Lebanon and Bethel Park
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Mike Embrescia (R), chief development officer at Carnegie Robotics
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Dan Gryzbek (D), chemical engineer
District 6 — Jefferson Hills, Whitehall and Baldwin
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Sean McGrath (R), network engineer, United Steelworkers
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John Palmiere (D), incumbent
District 7 — Penn Hills, Oakmont and Churchill
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Nick Futules (D), incumbent
District 10 — Hill District, Wilkinsburg and Forest Hills
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Carl Redwood (I), community activist
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DeWitt Walton (D), incumbent
District 11 — Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Homestead
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Paul Klein (D), incumbent
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Eileen Lo Cunningham (R), retired software developer and substitute math and science teacher
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Robert McCune (I)
District 13 — Downtown, North Side and Bellevue
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David Bonaroti (D), business development consultant for Google
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Sam Schmidt (I), writer and personal trainer
More reading
Pittsburgh City Council
With two longtime Pittsburgh City Council members retiring from their positions, the city’s legislative body is guaranteed to have some new faces after the November election.
Five of the nine seats are up for election this year, though with no Republicans running, the May primary winners are all but certain to win.
District 1 — North Side, Strip District, Troy Hill and Washington’s Landing
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Bobby Wilson, incumbent
District 3 — Hilltop, the South Side and South Oakland
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Bob Charland, chief of staff for outgoing District 3 Councilman Bruce Kraus
District 5 — Hazelwood, Regent Square and Greenfield
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Barb Warwick, incumbent
District 7 — Bloomfield, Lawrenceville and Highland Park
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Deb Gross, incumbent
District 9 — Homewood, East Liberty and Friendship
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Khari Mosely, political director at 1Hood Media
More reading
City controller
For the first time in 15 years, a new city controller is guaranteed. Longtime Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb ran in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County Executive, leaving the fiscal watchdog role open.
The Democratic nominee is Rachael Heisler, who has served as the city’s deputy controller since 2021 and prior to that worked as the senior advisor at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a federal fiscal watchdog group. She has also previously worked for U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire and US. Sen. Bob Casey.
She beat out two other candidates for the Democratic nomination in the May primary.
With no Republican opponent, Ms. Heisler is all but guaranteed to be Pittsburgh's next independently elected auditor.
County Controller
Corey O’Connor, the Democratic nominee and former Pittsburgh City Council member, is running to keep his seat as controller, one he was voted into in 2022 by the state Senate.
Mr. O’Connor faces Bob Howard, who won the Republican nomination in May in a write-in campaign. Mr. Howard is retired, and a former longtime controller and accountant for PPG Industries.
The county controller is tasked with performing audits of the county’s offices and agencies, among other duties. Many regard the role as a fiscal watchdog of county funds.
The candidates
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Bob Howard (R)
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Corey O’Connor (D)
County treasurer
The county will have a new treasurer for the first time in over 20 years, as John Weinstein mounted an unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign for county executive instead of running for reelection.
Erica Rocchi Brusselars, a pension actuary and educator, won the Democratic nomination in May. Ms. Brusselars faces Herb Ohliger, an IT professional who won the Republican primary in a write-in campaign.
The county treasurer’s website says the office’s “primary mission is to receive, invest, disburse and safeguard the monies of the County,” which includes tax revenue.
The candidates
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Herb Ohliger (R)
County Court of Common Pleas
Three judicial candidates cross-filed in both the Democratic and Republican primaries for the county’s Common Pleas Court, which is tasked with handling criminal, civil, family, and orphan cases in Allegheny County.
Judge Andy Szefi, who was running to retain a seat he assumed in July after the retirement of Judge Jeffrey Manning, was unsuccessful in both primaries. Anthony DeLuca and Patrick Sweeney face each other in the general election.
Mr. DeLuca, the Republican nominee, has been an assistant district attorney, a criminal defense lawyer, and a labor law attorney. Mr. Sweeney, the Democratic nominee, has spent more than 20 years in the county public defender’s office, along with service as bargaining unit secretary in the United Steelworkers Local 9002 union.
The candidates
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Anthony DeLuca (R)
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Patrick Sweeney (D)
Pennsylvania Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth courts
Voters will choose between candidates for one state Supreme Court vacancy, two Superior Court vacancies, and one Commonwealth Court vacancy. Superior and Commonwealth courts are two appellate courts handling different types of cases, with the state’s Supreme Court being the highest appeals court in Pennsylvania.
The state Supreme Court race has attracted national attention and millions of dollars in political spending as a high-profile clash over the future of abortion rights in Pennsylvania.
Here are the candidates for those openings in the general election:
Candidates for Supreme Court
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Daniel McCaffery (D)
Candidates for Superior Court
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Maria Battista (R)
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Jill Beck (D)
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Timika Lane (D)
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Harry Smail Jr.( R)
Candidates for Commonwealth Court
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Megan Martin (R)
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Matthew S. Wolf (D)
First Published: November 6, 2023, 8:17 p.m.
Updated: November 7, 2023, 6:53 p.m.
