The bakery and the bank and other businesses are gone, vacant storefronts are numerous, and as owner Carlitez Thompson cuts hair and talks inside the Royal Appearance Barbershop, it’s clear he wants government to focus on local economic development.
About 160 miles to the east, in the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Mr. Thompson’s locale is the subject of a lot of talk. But it’s about political advantage, not economic development.
That’s the dual reality of the special election set for Tuesday in House District 35. At one level, it will give about 65,000 people in the economically challenged patch of Allegheny County a voice in the state House — one they’ve been lacking since the Jan. 19 death of former Rep. Matt Gergely. At another, it will likely break the 101-101 tie between Democrats and Republicans that exists in the chamber.
Three candidates are on the ballot: Democrat Dan Goughnour of McKeesport, Republican Charles D. Davis of White Oak, and Libertarian Adam Kitta, also of White Oak. Democrats hold a massive 16,000-voter advantage in registrations in the district, but Republicans are nonetheless positive. And Mr. Kitta says a win by him would bring a new dynamic to Harrisburg.
Turnout for an off-year, workday, limited-scope election could be low.
“The Democrats can’t take it for granted because they still have to get people out to the polls,” said Susquehanna Polling & Research CEO Jim Lee.
In the Capitol, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The majority party controls the flow of bills in the chamber and can win any simple-majority vote. The months just ahead will be filled with important votes, some of them tied to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $51.5 billion budget proposal.
The stakes within District 35 are huge in their own right.
The district curls from White Oak over to McKeesport and down to Clairton, with a northward protrusion through Duquesne up to Munhall and Homestead. Parts of it are economically threadbare. Some residents did not know a special election was happening, but knew their top priorities for a lawmaker: jobs and economic development.
Mr. Thompson has one of the few remaining businesses on St. Clair Avenue near Miller Avenue in Clairton, where a bakery, a bank, and other establishments once stood. He figures government officials may see low-income residents and low property values as little motivation to seek more resources.
“I need a roof on this building,” he said as he cut a client’s hair in his shop. “And I’ve reached out to the municipal building [to see] if there were any grants or funding or anything to help small businesses, but they’re saying there’s no money. So that’s kind of bad when you’re one of the only businesses in Clairton.”
Livingston Pharmacy has been in Clairton since 1959. Owner Matthew Livingston, who was helping clients with orders and prescriptions one recent, sunny afternoon, said the challenges of running an independent pharmacy alongside giant companies like Amazon and CVS are considerable.
In order to compete, he said, you need to engage with customers and give them a reason to come back. “You’re the bad guy if you’re increasing prices while nobody else is getting a raise,” he said. “But it’s what you have to do in order to make the same amount of money.”
Priorities for candidates
In an interview, Mr. Davis, a 67-year-old telecommunications technician, said a key issue for the region is blight. A current White Oak Borough Council member who has been elected five times, Mr. Davis ran an abbreviated campaign for state Senate in 2016.
Citing McKeesport as an example, he pointed out the lengthy closure of the Versailles Avenue Bridge — which carries one of the city’s busiest neighborhood roads — as an example of a local government in need of help.
Beyond that, he said, the recent 36% tax increase from the county indicates something different has to happen in Harrisburg to help the region. “They are driving the businesses and the people out of Allegheny County,” Mr. Davis said.
Mr. Goughnour, who is 39 and has been a McKeesport police officer for more than 16 years, also is a member of the McKeesport Area School Board.
On his website, Mr. Goughnour says his priorities are strengthening public safety, boosting job training programs, supporting public schools, and reducing the cost of groceries and everyday essentials.
“I’m running for state representative to bring some common sense: building opportunity for local families and promoting a safe and thriving community,” a statement on the website says.
Mr. Kitta, 26, has lived in the district for most of life. He is assistant director for emergency disaster services in a 28-county region for The Salvation Army. He has never run for office before.
Economic development is a core piece of his pitch. He wants to bring a technical and trade school to the Mon Valley, he said, as a catalyst for generating skilled workers and attracting new businesses.
Should he win, he said, he would become a magnet for people in both parties. “I would hold that tie-breaking seat,” he said.
Uphill battle
Pollster Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Lehigh County, said the big Democratic registration advantage — combined with some discontent with Republican-led policies at the federal level — means “it is an uphill battle for Republicans to flip that seat.”
Mr. Lee, the pollster who said Democrats could not take the election for granted, said it wasn’t just because of the unattractive timing. There may also be some voter fatigue, he said, because “we just went through a very contentious election.”
Democrats have given the contest major play.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee designated Mr. Goughnour’s contest as a “spotlight race.” In February, during his very first days on the road as the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Minnesota’s Ken Martin visited the 35th. Video released on social media showed Mr. Martin and Mr. Goughnour approaching voters in the district.
Republicans have not conceded anything.
The new chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Committee, Jason Richey, said the working-class feel of the district, Democratic support for the county tax increase, and twists and turns in the U.S. Steel ownership battle all strengthen Republicans’ position.
“We think it is one we can win,” Mr. Richey said.
McKeesport challenges
McKeesport’s downtown does not look too dissimilar from Clairton’s. Some businesses — a child care facility, bakery, and candy warehouse — are longtime fixtures. But many other buildings, including two near City Hall, sit vacant.
Multiple residents in the region were not aware of the special election. But they all echoed a similar theme: whoever is seated needs to focus on economic development, along with addressing crime and drug use in the area.
David Mains, a McKeesport native, owns two buildings in town and moved to Indiana County roughly three years ago. Mr. Mains, 52, said he remembers his childhood days when small businesses lined McKeesport’s streets — and now shootings and violence are part of life in the city.
“You’re in your kitchen and you have to tackle your old lady on the floor, because you hear gunshots,” Mr. Mains said. “And then you come out and they got the whole block held off, and there’s bullet casings all over the ground.”
There aren’t many opportunities for residents, he said.
To the immediate southwest, Port Vue is a more residential town that serves as a gateway west between McKeesport and other Mon Valley communities. A 41-year-old bartender, who declined to give her name because she wasn’t authorized to speak for her owner, said that the region has changed considerably since she grew up.
Part of the issue, she said, is that there are fewer established families living in Mon Valley communities. And it can be hard for businesses to survive because of a lack of public safety or public transportation for workers.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of focus on community businesses, places that root not only their patronage but also their employment in the communities,” said the bartender, who works in the Port Vue area but lives in West Mifflin.
Lots of special elections
The 35th contest is just the latest in a long string of special elections in Pennsylvania. State data shows there have been 52 since 2015, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $3.5 million.
Should Democrats win the majority, Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery and majority chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he doesn’t think his party will lord it over Republicans.
The feel — at least so far, early in the session — is that bipartisan measures that should move ahead will have a good chance of doing so. Mr. Briggs said he believes that so far this year, top House members of the two parties “had good initial conversations.”
Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin and minority chair of the Judiciary Committee, also has at least a tempered optimism. “I believe that those who are running the show truly have a desire” to govern in a balanced fashion, he said.
First Published: March 21, 2025, 8:00 a.m.
Updated: March 22, 2025, 1:52 a.m.
