Democratic challenger defeats Pittsburgh mayor in a primary after a clash over the party’s future

Gainey and his allies painted O’Connor, the county controller and the son of a former mayor, as beholden to President Donald Trump and monied real estate interests, pointing to campaign donations from Trump backers and developers. The mayor, who was first elected in 2021, also pointed to drops in violent crime, local job growth and the city’s improved credit ratings to counter O’Connor, who portrayed Gainey as an unproductive mayor who’s failed at managing city finances, its police department, and on general quality-of-life fronts

O’Connor launched his campaign late last year, emerging as a favorite early on and raising more money than Gainey, though polling showed the race tightening as Election Day neared. Last month, both campaigns touted internal polling showing them with an advantage in the tough-to-model local race: Gainey’s campaign survey showed him up 7 points, while O’Connor’s showed him up by 4, though that was considerably closer than other polls his campaign touted earlier in the cycle that showed the challenger up double-digits.

Gainey, the city’s first Black mayor, won a contested primary in 2021, knocking off incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto in a three-way primary with a plurality of the vote. His win was part of a county-wide progressive advance, preceding wins by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, among other candidates on the left who have won major offices in the area in recent years.

“This has been a wonderful four years,” Gainey said in his concession speech. “We didn’t put a crack in the glass ceiling, we shattered it.”

The Pittsburgh mayoral race elevated housing policy to the forefront of the local discussion. Gainey has sought to enact inclusionary zoning policies throughout Pittsburgh that require new developments to set aside at least 10% of units for affordable housing. Those policies currently apply to only a few neighborhoods, and O’Connor came out against making inclusionary zoning citywide policy.

Meanwhile, a key point of contention in the race focused on just how many affordable units have been or are being built in the city since the start of Gainey’s term as mayor.