In a first for Summer Lee, Allegheny County Dems back the incumbent congresswoman

Allegheny County Democrats on Sunday endorsed U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, marking the first time that the progressive lawmaker has secured the local party’s backing in what is expected to be a hotly contested primary election.

Lee, who has had a somewhat contentious relationship with Southwest Pennsylvania’s Democratic establishment, secured 440 votes from Democratic committee members. Edgewood councilwoman Bhavini Patel, Lee’s challenger, received 299 votes.

Lee’s endorsement victory appears to be another sign of the committee’s continued leftward shift, which began last year.

Laurie MacDonald, CEO of advocacy group Center for Victims, is also running in the 12th District Democratic primary but did not seek the committee’s endorsement.

The congressional district includes Pittsburgh, eastern Allegheny County suburbs including Plum, the Mon Valley, and Westmoreland County communities such as Murrysville, North Huntingdon, Penn Township, Sewickley, Jeannette and parts of Hempfield.

Lee touted her record of bringing $1.2 billion in federal investment into the district targeted for various uses, including transit infrastructure, green energy projects and veterans benefits.

“Every day, we’re showing folks democracy in action – delivering real change for working families,” said Lee in a statement.

Allegheny County Democratic Committee members met Sunday to vote for their preferred candidates for the primary election in April. Committee members are made up of elected and appointed positions throughout the county. Members within each district can only vote for candidates within each district.

In total, nearly 1,100 committee members voted on Sunday, said Allegheny County Democratic Committee Chairman Sam Hens-Greco. Turnout dropped significantly from last year, when about 1,400 committee members voted, but Hens-Greco said turnout was very high in 2023 due to nearly every local race being contested.

The number of votes in the Lee-Patel endorsement battle was less than the total number of voters because only committee members in the 12th District could cast a ballot. The 12th District covers only part of Allegheny County.

This year, candidates in only a handful of contested races were seeking endorsements, including the Lee-Patel contest and races for Mon Valley state legislative seats.

Hens-Greco said turnout this year was similar to that in 2022, the last time congressional and state legislative seats were on the ballot.

He said the committee is likely to put out a voter guide to send to all Democratic voters in the county prior to the primary, and endorsed candidates will be noted in a slate card and within the voter guide.

For her four prior races as a state legislator and a congresswoman — including two in which she was the incumbent — Lee failed to earn the committee’s endorsement.

The committee typically endorses incumbents, but it is also subject to the whims of members.

In the past, those members leaned toward supporting moderate candidates with ties to establishment Democratic figures, like former County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. At times, some of those endorsed candidates would then lose in the Democratic Primary, signaling a disconnect between the committee and the county’s Democratic electorate.

But over the last two years, the committee has seen an influx of new members and a leftward shift thanks to work in part by Allegheny County Councilwoman at-large Bethany Hallam, a progressive from Pittsburgh’s North Side.

Local campaign experts have said the shift means the committee is now more reflective of the electorate.

LeeAnn Younger, who leads the county Democrats’ Pittsburgh members, said Lee’s endorsement victory showcases the committee’s changing dynamics, as well as Lee’s work within the district.

Patel had been soliciting support on her campaign website from older and suburban voters, who tend to be more moderate. But for this year’s endorsement, that support appeared to be overwhelmed by Lee’s progressive base.

Lee has also been consolidating support within the entire Democratic base, receiving endorsements from Democratic leadership in the U.S. House and more moderate politicians like U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton.

Regardless, the 12th District race is likely to remain contentious, political experts have said.

Duquesne University political science professor Lew Irwin told TribLive last week he expects the 12th District contest to be the nastiest in the area, with large campaign sums raised by candidates and outside groups ready to spend on attack ads.

Lee has garnered headlines for her stances on the Israel/Hamas War and her calls for a ceasefire, and Patel has been quick to criticize Lee and attempt to position herself as the pro-Israel candidate.

In 2022, the 12th District race broke down along similar lines, and Lee emerged victorious by about 1,000 votes out of more than 113,000 cast.

Contested Endorsements

Allegheny County Democratic Committee members endorsed other candidates in contested races on Sunday.

State Rep. Nick Pisciottano, D-West Mifflin, is running against Brentwood social worker Makenize White for the open state Senate seat in the county’s Mon Valley, which is being vacated by state Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport.

The Senate’s 45th District covers Mon Valley communities, as well as eastern and southern suburbs such as Plum, Monroeville, Brentwood, Baldwin, and Castle Shannon.

Pisciottano secured the Democratic endorsement by a vote of 160-35.

The House’s 38th District is being vacated by Pisciottano and has attracted two candidates: West Mifflin borough Councilman John Ingles and lawyer Anthony “A.J.” Olasz, also of West Mifflin.

Ingles defeated Olasz 53-39.

The district they are battling to represent covers Baldwin, Dravosburg, Glassport, and Whitehall, as well as parts of West Mifflin and the City of Pittsburgh.

In Lee’s former state House seat, state Rep. Abigail Salisbury, D-Swissvale, is running against Wilkinsburg school board member Ashley Comans.

They are fighting to represent voters in the 34th District, which includes Braddock, Rankin, Wilkinsburg, Edgewood, Forest Hills, and Swissvale.

Salisbury defeated Comans in the endorsement vote by 95-22.

A state house race in the Allegheny Valley is also contested between Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese and state Rep. Joe McAndrew, D-Verona, but Calabrese did not seek the endorsement and McAndrew won it uncontested, said Hens-Greco.

Several other candidates in uncontested races also secured endorsements from the Democratic committee, including U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall.