14th Ward Democratic Committee controversy envelops upcoming elections

Does Pittsburgh’s 14th Ward Democratic Committee have a Jewish problem?

While committee members likely will insist it does not, tensions have surfaced over a recent slate of candidates — many of whom are Jewish — who filed to run for committee seats, sparking questions about inclusion and fairness.

The debate began with an email to committee members from 14th Ward Chair Liz Healey.

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

The email included the names of 31 candidates “opposing current committee members and for candidates who are running in districts where we helped to recruit and support committee candidates for open seats.”

Echoing a proverbial curse, Healey concluded her email by writing, “We certainly live in interesting times.”

Rumors soon began circulating that many of those candidates were encouraged to run by the Beacon Coalition, a non-partisan organization that “operates to protect the rights and wellbeing of Jews in the United States,” according to its website.

Committee member Marie Norman took the debate online, creating a post on Facebook that read in part: “The Beacon Coalition, a single-issue organization and PAC, has recruited 31 (!!) new candidates to run for the 14th Ward’s 82-seat committee. Most are running to replace sitting committee members.”

Norman said her concern with the Beacon Coalition stems from the group’s backing of Republican politicians, specifically state Rep. Valerie Gaydos and the state’s Attorney General Dave Sunday.

Jeremy Kazzaz, Beacon Coalition’s executive director, said the organization supports candidates that most closely align with the group’s mission.

“We spend a lot of time, and our research team time spends a lot of time, evaluating folks for how they fit into our rubric that is clearly set out in all our materials for how we judge candidates — how they combat antisemitism, stand up for our constitutional democracy and protect America as a pluralistic nation.”

Acknowledging support from the Beacon Coalition’s PAC for Gaydos, Kazzaz said the group actually supported Sunday’s opponent, Eugene DePasquale, a Democrat.

“All of us were knocking doors for Eugene DePasquale,” Kazzaz said. “Then Attorney General Dave Sunday asked us to serve on his transition team, which we did.”

Peg Whelan, a 14th Ward committee member, is disappointed by the controversy.

She said this is the first time she can remember alternate candidates running for committee seats, which is “a little hard for people who have been around for a long time and like to see cohesion. And there is a lot of cohesion in the 14th Ward.”

Both sides, she said, need to hear the other.

“I’ve spoken to Rebecca [Elhassid, of the Beacon Coalition] and I’m convinced what they’re doing is not undemocratic at all,” she said. “It seems the opposite, but it is untraditional in our ward.”

An important focus of the Democratic Committee, Whelan said, is endorsing candidates. So, she understands why groups like the Beacon Coalition would want to work with committee members who support its mission.

“If the endorsement goes to someone like Summer Lee or Bethany [Hallam], who are people the Beacon Coalition — and I agree with them — don’t think are fit to hold office, are endorsed, they’ll probably get elected, because people just don’t know enough about these candidates. I think they’re trying to get people on the committee who will not endorse these people who are a danger to the Jewish community,” Whelan said.

Not voting for a candidate because they may or may not have the support of the Beacon Coalition is a double standard, Whelan said, given that unions and other issue-advocacy organizations often support candidates from both major parties and encourage their supporters to get involved in local politics.

“You can be a member of any number of groups and still be a Democratic Committee member, as long as you’re a Democrat,” she said. “I can be a member of a union that supports Democrats and Republicans and still be a Democrat.”

Norman told the Chronicle that she has an issue with that, as well.

“I have a problem with unions and other groups financially supporting candidates, Republican candidates. I absolutely do,” she said.

The Beacon Coalition is simply interested in quality candidates, Kazzaz said.

“Of the many things that we do, we are trying to find good candidates that are interested in good governance to be in state and local politics and that includes on committees,” he said.

Norman expressed concern that the Beacon Coalition is using its influence in the race.

“I’ve never heard of somebody targeting this low level, grassroots, small time kind of committee or bringing in the kind of money that could potentially be brought into this race to sway it,” she said.

That’s a charge Kazzaz refutes, saying that Beacon is not financially backing candidates; candidates usually engage in these hyper-local campaigns by knocking on doors and talking with their neighbors.

Norman said it’s not her intention to demonize any group, especially one that fights antisemitism. Instead, she simply wants voters to have the information to vote conscientiously.

That’s what 14th Ward Democratic Committee candidate Lynda Wrenn wants, as well. She fears, though, that the controversy and her inclusion on the list distributed by Healey will prevent that from happening.

A former board president of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Wrenn has long been involved in local politics. She said she wasn’t encouraged or recruited by the Beacon Coalition to run for the committee. In fact, she said, Healey asked her if she would like to be appointed to fill a seat on the committee when a former committee person died and then, presumably, run in the next election.

And while she didn’t take Healey’s offer for a host of reasons, Wrenn didn’t back out of politics.

“I worked really hard to get judges and local officials elected,” she said. “I moved here and got involved in politics. That was 30 years ago.”

When the seat again became available in 2024, Wrenn became interested.

She responded to Norman’s Facebook post about the Beacon Coalition writing, “The idea that I am some kind of right-wing plant or some unwitting newbie is deeply insulting.”

Wrenn said she isn’t running to represent any group.

Instead, she said, “I am running to represent my friends and neighbors in 14-11. They know me well and know that I have a deep and longstanding commitment to local Democratic politics and will serve them well as their committeewoman. To insinuate otherwise is disingenuous.”

Whelan said the controversy now surrounding the 14th Ward is unfortunate because the Ward historically has done some incredible things.

“People on this committee work really hard and they get a huge turnout, and they support all sorts of good things. Liz Healey has been terrific,” she said. “I’m really torn by this.”

Rebecca Elhassid, of the Beacon Coalition, said all elections matter.

“The way to make a difference democratically is to get involved,” she said. “We encourage everyone to register to vote and to vote in every race, including the very, very local ones.”

Healey did not respond to the Chronicle’s interview requests. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.