Dom Costa, Deputy Sheriff Kevin Kraus announce bids for Allegheny County sheriff
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Dom Costa, a former state representative and police chief, and Kevin Kraus, the current second in command of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, both announced their respective bids for sheriff on Friday.
Kraus comes with the endorsement of current Sheriff William Mullen, who has served in the position since 2006. Mullen is retiring at the end of his current term.
“I know that with Kraus as our sheriff, this office remains in good, capable and trustworthy hands upon my retirement,” Mullen said in a statement voicing his support for his chief deputy.
Costa, in his announcement, cited first responders and essential workers as the inspiration for his run.
“As a community, each of us have made sacrifices to protect neighbors and strangers,” the former state representative said in a statement. “We have witnessed people making masks, sending foot to health care workers, and shopping for the elderly.”
He said that “spirit of service and goodness” is what pushed him to run for sheriff.
Costa, 69, began his career in law enforcement as an East McKeesport police officer, later moving to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police as an officer and commander and, ultimately, the chief in 2006. He was shot in the neck during an armed standoff in 2002.
He spent five terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives upon his retirement from the Pittsburgh police, though he first served a brief stint as police chief in Penn Hills. He was elected in 2008 in the state’s 21st District. He was defeated in 2018 by Rep. Sara Innamorato.
Kraus, too, spent decades with the Pittsburgh police before moving to the sheriff’s office. He was appointed chief deputy in 2014, a position in which he oversees and manages the daily operations of the office.
Kraus, 51, pointed to that experience in announcing his run, saying it would be “an honor to continue my work to serve the constituents” as sheriff.
The sheriff’s office covers a variety of responsibilities: providing security to the Allegheny County Courthouse, transporting prisoners, handing firearms licenses and applications and serving warrants, among others.