Pittsburgh reacts to Corey O’Connor’s primary victory

Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor defeated incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey in Pittsburgh’s May 20 Democratic primary. O’Connor will face Republican Tony Moreno in the general election in a race the GOP hasn’t won in nearly a century.

Depending on whom you ask, O’Connor’s victory was either a win for a Pittsburgh scion who has devoted himself to the city his father served as mayor, or it was the triumph of MAGA-leaning developers uninterested in the city’s needs and whose raison d’être is gentrifying underserved neighborhoods. O’Connor’s win is either a welcome reset for a city some view as having gone off the rails in pursuit of progressive ideals, or a pox on the soul of a city that has yet to acknowledge its inherent racism. It either showed the power of local organizing, or showed the success of outside groups that funneled millions of dollars into local elections.

During the run-up to the election, O’Connor was accused of racism because of a postcard sent to voters by an outside group; supporters of the mayor, Allegheny County Democratic Committee members Greg Kochanski and Jane Louik, wrote in a letter to constituents that Gainey was a victim of those slinging antisemitic claims on him and his campaign.

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Despite the passion of the race, only about 26% of Pittsburgh residents — 64,433 — voted. That’s a slight uptick from 2021, when 59,725 ballots were cast, leading Gainey to secure the Democratic nomination and become Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor.

O’Connor’s victory has been attributed to his strong showing in the 14th Ward — which includes parts of Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Regent Square, Point Breeze and Oakland. It has the largest concentration of Jewish voters in the city.

O’Connor won slightly more than 65% of the 10,746 votes cast by 14th Ward residents. Gainey lost nearly 10% of the vote count he had in 2021 in the ward, but had a solid showing in other neighborhoods, including the North Side, Highland Park, Larimer and East Liberty.

Squirrel Hill resident Karen Gal-Or said she was thrilled with O’Connor’s victory, noting she has known him since they were children attending East Hills Elementary.

“He was an amazing human being then and he’s a really thoughtful human now,” she said.

Gal-Or said many Jewish Pittsburghers felt marginalized and ignored by the last administration, especially on difficult days like the first anniversary of Oct. 7. Gainey released a statement that day, co-authored by Rep. Summer Lee and County Executive Sara Innamorato, which seemed to blame Israel for the war launched by Hamas.

O’Connor, Gal-Or offered, has ties not just to the Jewish community but “so many different segments of Pittsburgh.”

“He’ll work to really understand what people’s concerns are, whether it’s the potholes or bridges that never seem to open or Jewish safety in Squirrel Hill,” she said.

That last point is most important to Gal-Or.

“Fundamentally, I didn’t feel safe as a Jew in Pittsburgh,” she said. “Corey is a mayor that will help try to make the community safe again.”

Barb Warwick, City Councilmember of the 5th District — which includes parts of Squirrel Hill, Greenfield and Regent Square, among other neighborhoods — endorsed Gainey and was a vocal supporter. She said his defeat was disappointing.

“I think that Ed is a fantastic mayor,” Warwick said. “He’s done more good work for underserved people and communities in the city in three years than I think had been done in 30 years prior. So, yeah, it’s definitely a loss.”

She said it’s important that the work he started — increasing social services, reducing gun violence and efforts in public safety — continues,
It’s in those areas, Warwick said, where she believes she can work with the incoming administration most effectively.

Warwick said she’s most concerned for the underserved — people whose lives are affected by who is in office.

Pittsburgh, she said, has long been one of the worst cities for Black women and is losing its Black population. She said it’s increasingly difficult for a working-class person to live in the city, noting issues like gun violence, and food and housing insecurities are most felt by that population.

Warwick said she’s concerned about O’Connor’s relationship with real estate developers, a point the Gainey campaign leaned into during the race. Those developers, she said, “have made it abundantly clear that they don’t care about affordable housing issues. They want to be able to build whatever they want to build.”

Warwick doesn’t discount the effect race had on the vote.

“I’m not going to say it’s the only factor, but it certainly played a very strong role,” she said.

So, too, she said, was the idea that Gainey didn’t work hard enough for areas like Squirrel Hill and Shadyside. The mayor, Warwick said, spent time and resources working for neighborhoods like the Hill, Homewood, Hazelwood and the East Hills, something that wasn’t done by the previous administration.

Some people in the 14th Ward, Warwick said, were upset over the mayor’s position on Israel’s war with Hamas and made a concerted effort to get the vote out. They tried to paint the mayor as incompetent, she said, specifically calling out the Beacon Coalition for its support of O’Connor.

The Beacon Coalition is a non-partisan organization that operates to protect the rights and well-being of Jews in the United States, according to its promotional materials. It endorsed O’Connor and its executive director, Jeremy Kazzaz, volunteered for his campaign.

Kazzaz said O’Connor had a strong showing in the 14th Ward because of his history with the area — he was the neighborhood’s City Council representative for nearly a decade.

“Knocking on doors, I heard tons of stories from people about how he was able to help them in that role on City Council, or coaching Little League. He’s done a lot to build those connections,” he said.

Attempts by people to downplay the antisemitism in the city during the run-up to the election, Kazzaz said, “shows what length people are willing to go to try and convince their neighbors that what they are seeing, and their experiences, are not valid or real.”

Kazzaz speaks from personal experience. His Jewish identity, the fact that he served in the IDF and his work with the Beacon Coalition were attacked on social media by a small but vocal group of Gainey supporters shortly before and after the election.

One Twitter user, @joeypoppyseed, wrote, “Corey needs all the volunteers he can get. He will even accept help from a former IDF soldier who doxxed and harassed Pitt students along w community advocates. He personally handed Zappala a list of names of who to prosecute. Jeremy Kazzaz and company make Pittsburgh unsafe.”

That post was retweeted by Maria Guido, a former nominee for the Shuman Juvenile Detention Advisory Board, who accused Kazzaz of doxing her online and passing her information to Stop Antisemitism, a watchdog organization “dedicated to exposing groups and individuals that espouse incitement towards the Jewish people,” according to the group’s website.

Kazzaz, who is both an American and Israeli citizen, completed national service in Israel 15 years ago.

“These claims are completely false,” Kazzaz said. “I never shared anyone’s personal contact information online or with the district attorney and never doxxed anyone — full stop. What we’re seeing is a familiar pattern: When Jews speak up for their communities or participate in public life, they’re singled out with conspiracy theories and smear campaigns. It’s not new, it’s just the modern form of an old prejudice.”

Shortly after the mayor’s concession speech, charges of racism and the influence of MAGA money on the race were made by individuals connected to progressive groups in the city.

Tanisha Long, a community organizer with the Abolitionist Law Center and anti-Zionist wrote “The work to destroy dark money continues. The work to save Pittsburgh from MAGA continues. The work to break the grip of Zionism and racism on Pittsburgh continues.”

O’Connor’s relationship with the Black community, she said, is irreparable.

“His choice to run a campaign fueled by racism and bigotry will not be forgotten or forgiven,” she wrote.

Writing about O’Connor’s victory party, Long posted, “If your victory party looks like a Unite the White party, you shouldn’t be mayor.”

Long reposted a tweet by Miracle Jones, director of advocacy and policy for 1Hood Media, in which Jones reposted the quote by Gainey, “We will not turn to hate.” Jones responded, “I’m a Sagittarius.” Long reposted that, writing “I’m with the Sagitterorist. F— it, we ball.”

Jones also wrote, “The weaponization of antisemitism was not condemned or roundly rejected by the caucus. It is clear that these accusations are meant to target Black leaders and remove them from leadership positions,” and “It’s time for us to have a clear conversation not discern actual fear of harm due to increased antiJewish sentiment from real hate and disdain of Black people.”

Jones also tweeted “At this time antisemitism is 1) hatred of Jewish people 2) belief that Palestinians are human beings and deserving of human rights 3) a false accusation to remove Black people from access to power.”

O’Connor hasn’t commented on the online accusations. Instead, he spent the day following the election holding a sign in the rain thanking those who voted for him — something his father did after being elected mayor.

Pennsylvania’s general election is Nov. 20. PJC

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