After unseating an incumbent in the 2020 primary, Democratic state Rep. Emily Kinkead is facing a challenge in her reelection in Pennsylvania’s 20th State House District race. Two-term incumbent Kinkead once again faces Republican teacher Matt Kruth after besting him in 2022 by a 61-to-39 margin. Both ran unopposed in the May primaries.

Born in Pittsburgh, and raised all across the country, Kinkead, 37, returned to Pittsburgh to attend law school and has lived in the area since. She lives in Brighton Heights. Before being elected to the state House in 2020, she worked as an attorney and has experience working in offices shaping policy on the federal level.

If reelected, Kinkead said she wants to continue the work she has been doing as State Representative for the 20th District, which includes parts of Pittsburgh and areas of Allegheny County’s norther suburbs, including Avalon, Bellevue, Ross and West View.

Since she got into office in 2020, Kinkead has been working to establish a landslide insurance program.

“Especially in Western Pennsylvania, landslides are only becoming a bigger issue and there is no insurance available anywhere that will cover the damage caused by landslides,” Kinkead said.

She is also the House chair of the Hunger Caucus.

“I’ve been working on universal school meals and fully funding our state level anti-hunger programs,” Kinkead said.

The State Food Purchase Program, the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System, SNAP and Senior Food Boxes are among the programs Kinkead has worked on during her role as Representative.

If reelected, she wants to continue her efforts with criminal justice reform. Kinkead said she wants to continue applying the best practices she’s seen as a criminal defense attorney and “rely on data driven, trauma informed approaches to how our criminal justice system should work.”

Kinkead was inspired to join politics when she was in high school. Vermont had just legalized same sex marriage and she was living in North Dakota, a state that passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

“I didn’t understand why the government really cared,” Kinkead said. “It felt like something that was, you know, there were bigger fish to fry for the government than who people were marrying.”

Kinkead said her interest in politics grew from there.

Kinkead said she initially ran for Representative because she believes the communities she serves deserve an outspoken advocate for the kinds of reforms state residents are looking for, and an advocate that will bring resources back to the district.

“It’s a little bit of both,” she said. “It’s making sure that I’m advocating for the stuff people of District 20 want to see Pennsylvania wide and that I’m an advocate for the kinds of things we need locally and I think I’ve been doing a good job in that capacity and I hope people will see that and decide to reelect me.”

Despite Kruth not having held a political position before, he feels as though it’s an asset to his potential service as the 20th District’s Representative.

“We need less people ingrained in politics and more people ready to serve the community,” Kruth said “One way that I am currently serving is as an appointed member of the Ross Township Planning Commission.”

Born and raised in the North Hills, Kruth, 44, currently lives in Ross Township with his wife and two sons. He has 21 years of experience as a school teacher in the Pittsburgh Public School District and recently began working as a reading coach at Pittsburgh Public schools Arsenal and Manchester for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

If elected, Kruth said he plans to focus on improving the economy by “reigning in state spending.”

“Money is tight for everyone right now,” he said. “There’s a lot we can do at the state level to ease some of that pain such as lowering the tax rate to put money back in people’s pockets.”

He said he also wants to implement and improve policies surrounding education.

“I’m a teacher, so I know full well it takes money to run a school district,” Kruth said. “We need to fully fund our schools, but we also can’t throw money at them without fixing the problem. Literacy rates and test scores are declining.”

Another one of Kruth’s top priorities is public safety. He’s been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police.

“Residents aren’t interested in soft on crime policies like ending cash bail, decriminalizing drugs, and light sentences for violent criminals,” Kruth said. “Everybody wants to feel safe in their neighborhood and these types of policies make us less safe.”

Kruth said he’s always had an interest in serving people. It was one of the reasons he became a teacher, Kruth said.

“I would like to continue that service in a larger capacity as a State Representative,” Kruth said. “Additionally, I feel there are areas of our government that are not working as well as they could. I want to be a part of that solution to better support the residents in our district and across the Commonwealth.”

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