Nina Ahmad declares primary win over Michael Lamb in state auditor general race

Former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Nina Ahmad declared victory Thursday over her closest competitor, Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb, in a six-way Democratic primary race for Pennsylvania auditor general.

As of Thursday afternoon, Ahmad led Lamb by more than 80,000 votes with all but one voting district in Pennsylvania reporting, according to unofficial Pennsylvania Department of State election returns. She collected about 34% of the vote compared to Lamb’s 28%.

All other candidates had less than 15%.

Thank you to all PA voters who have helped me across the finish line. If you’d like to read my full press release announcing my victory, please visit the link in my bio! I am deeply grateful and humbled to have won the Democratic primary! pic.twitter.com/OnxJQeRO7h

— Nina Ahmad (@NinaAhmadPHL) June 11, 2020

“I promised change and voters responded resoundingly by electing a new face and a new voice,” Ahmad said in a statement. “I am deeply humbled.”

Neither Lamb nor his campaign could not be reached for comment.

Lamb, 57, an attorney and oMt. Washington resident, has been the Pittsburgh controller since 2008 and previously served as Allegheny County prothonotary. He carried Allegheny County with a large vote margin over Ahmad, winning 77% of the vote to her 13%, according to unofficial county election returns.

Ahmad, a native of Bangladesh, has a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and previously worked as a medical scientist at Wills Eye Hospital and Thomas Jefferson Medical College, according to her biography. She also served as Philadelphia deputy mayor, president of the Philadelphia National Organization for Women and as a member of President Obama’s National Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

She vowed to campaign with former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, along with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and state Treasurer Joe Torsella, to “deliver the change Pennsylvanians want.”

That includes rebuilding the state’s economy and enacting police and criminal justice reform, according to her statement. She also promised as auditor to conduct all audits “through the lens of racial equity.”

“I will work to stamp out sexual harassment and discrimination in state government, and change the culture in Harrisburg,” she said.

Republican Timothy L. DeFoor, a former Dauphin County controller, ran unopposed in the GOP primary for auditor general.