Turtle Creek Mayor Adam Forgie declares primary challenge to Summer Lee

Congressional hopeful Adam Forgie credits a 2016 Classrooms Without Borders tip to Poland as “changing everything.”

“We toured Treblinka and Auschwitz. It changed my life,” he said. “It changed my viewpoint, everything. This can never happen again.”

Forgie is the mayor of Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania — an eastern suburb bordering Monroeville, East Pittsburgh, Forest Hills, Churchill and Wilmerding — and a teacher in the Woodland Hills School District.

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He recently announced his candidacy to challenge incumbent 12th District Rep. Summer Lee.

“She has taken the party so far to the left that it doesn’t represent what it is to be a true Democrat,” Forgie said.

“Socialist — she’s come out and said that publicly. That’s not the viewpoint of the majority of Democrats.”

Forgie, who calls himself a “traditional blue-collar Democrat,” said he is a moderate who makes decisions issue by issue.

Lee, he said, isn’t simply out of step with the region — she doesn’t know what the region wants or needs.

“It wasn’t until recently that she finally appeared [in Turtle Creek] and did an interview about railroad safety,” Forgie said. “Where was she before that? When she was our state rep, she was kind of absent. It’s what a lot of people think.”

It’s one of the reasons he’s pledged over the next 10 months to visit all 47 communities of Allegheny County and all 16 of Westmoreland County in District 12.

“I want to hear what they need. That’s being a true representative,” he said.

Forgie said he and Lee had similar socio-economic backgrounds growing up in different Mon Valley neighborhoods; his was in the same borough where he now serves as mayor.

“If it wasn’t for programs like welfare when I was a young boy we would have starved,” he said. “Programs like welfare should be a crutch not a way of life. I think a lot of people feel that way.”

He credits his father for fostering his desire to give back.

“My dad taught that to me,” he said. “You don’t complain. If you’re on the sidelines you have to get in the game.”

It’s a lesson Forgie learned well.

At 18, he became Turtle Creek’s youngest firefighter before attending Slippery Rock University, where he became involved in the Student Government Association. He helped pay for his degree in secondary education by working for the Turtle Creek Street Department.

He joined the Army Reserves after Sept. 11, 2001, but his military career was cut short after a medical discharge because of gout.

Forgie earned a master’s degree in education at Walden University in 2005. In 2007, he became Turtle Creek’s youngest mayor at age 27.

His roots, he said, are tied to the region and help him understand the needs of the district.

“Both my grandfathers worked at Westinghouse. My dad worked for the Union Railroad before he got laid off. He worked for the postal service. He was a union steward,” said Forgie, who has served as a teachers’ union president. “I understand the need — especially in Pittsburgh — the workers’ need to unite and stand together for their rights, and to bargain collectively.”

He also feels a connection to the Jewish community, which deepened during his trip to Poland with Classrooms Without Borders, but started as a child when he became friends with his Jewish neighbor.

It’s because of those experiences that he believes Holocaust education should be taught in every school and that it should be federally funded. It’s also why he believes Israel has an absolute right to defend itself.

“I am 100% committed to standing with Israel, whether I’m elected or not,” he said. “That’s who I am.”

And that, he said, is one thing that frustrates him about Lee.

“She knows the Tree of Life happened. She knows 11 people were murdered in our community, but she votes against supporting Israel, which is a vote against the Jewish community here,” Forgie said.

He said Lee’s dogmatic approach is against the political current.

“I feel like the progressive idea was popular a few years ago but people want things done right now, and being so stubborn, whether its on the right or left, is getting us nowhere,” he said.

As to the region, Forgie said he sees a lot of opportunities for growth and development, citing Eos Energy’s investment in Turtle Creek. Placing its Ingenuity Park facility in the community will create thousands of jobs, he said.

Forgie is also bullish about U.S. Steel staying in the region and development at the former Century III Mall site.

The district will continue to benefit from infrastructure upgrades and repairs, he said, as well as increased bus routes and connections between different communities. He also would like to see the Turtle Creek bike connector — which goes from Trafford to Rankin — completed and perhaps expanded to the Waterfront.

Although he’s willing to work with anyone, Forgie said he has concerns about the Trump administration, particularly Elon Musk’s position.

“I voted for Kamala,” he said. “She was exactly what I wanted to see in the presidency and would have protected people’s rights. Things like DEI being destroyed, that’s just insane. It’s not just about race. DEI is about having access for wheelchairs to get on a curb. That’s frustrating.”

On the other hand, Forgie understands the need for immigration reform and said he is in favor of deporting criminals who entered the country illegally, but said he supports naturalization of legal immigrants.

“I understand people coming from other parts of the world are coming because where they live is hard, but there is a right way to do it,” he said.

Forgie has a preexisting relationship with Sen. John Fetterman from his time as the mayor of Braddock and believes they would work well together for the region.

Brad Zolnak, Forgie’s campaign manager, has known the congressional hopeful for nearly two decades, since the Turtle Creek mayor served as his mentoring teacher.

He said Forgie’s goal of uniting the region and his background in local governance makes him the perfect person to represent District 12 in Congress.

“I believe we have a strong message that will resonate,” Zolnak said.

He, too, believes Lee’s position on Israel has been detrimental to the region’s Jewish community.

“Summer’s positions are completely wrong on Israel’s right to defend itself,” Zolnak said. “All the horrible things that the Jewish community has been dealing and the continued rise in antisemitism, she’s just on the wrong side of history with this one.”

In the end, Forgie said, public service is about creating a level playing field for everyone, noting that many of his friends left the region because they couldn’t find jobs.

“Opportunity belongs to everyone,” he said.PJC

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