Pennsylvania 2025 primary election: Corey O’Connor wins Democratic primary for Pittsburgh mayor

Tuesday is the 2025 primary election in Pennsylvania.

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One of the biggest races we’ll be following is the race for Pittsburgh’s mayor.

Democratic incumbent Ed Gainey faces a primary challenge from Allegheny County Controller Corey O‘Connor, a former member of the Pittsburgh City Council and son of the late Mayor Bob O‘Connor.

On the Republican side, the two people vying for the nomination are Thomas West and Tony Moreno.

West is a local business owner and former East Liberty Chamber of Commerce board member. Moreno is a former member of the Pittsburgh Police Department.

What to know:

The polls are now closed.

Pennsylvania is a closed primary, meaning only those who are registered members of a political party may vote the ballot of that political party.

• Find your polling place
• Track the status of your mail-in or absentee ballot

LIVE UPDATES BELOW:

UPDATE 11:35 p.m. Channel 11 spoke with Democratic Pittsburgh mayor candidates after the race was called for Corey O’Connor.

Rick Earle spoke with O’Connor at his watch party. See the live interview in the video below.

Corey O'Connor secures Democratic nomination for Pittsburgh mayor

Talia Kirkland met with Mayor Ed Gainey at his watch party. Gainey told her he’s proud of the work he’s done. Hear more of his remarks in the video below.

Incumbent Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey tells Channel 11 he's proud of the work he's done

UPDATE 10:50 p.m.: Incumbent Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey issued a statement after the Associated Press called the Democratic primary for his challenger, Corey O’Connor.

The statement reads:

“While tonight’s result isn’t what we hoped for, our people-powered movement in Pittsburgh is stronger than it’s ever been before thanks to every person who was part of this campaign to build a city for all. 

“The multi-generational, multi racial-movement that has been pushing to transform who the government works for has been fighting massive amounts of money at every level of electoral politics — from Summer Lee overcoming millions of dollars worth of attack ads to Sara Innamorato beating a right-wing dark money scheme.

“And that means Corey O’Connor must be ready to carry forward the transformational progress the people of this city demand and that he promised in his campaign. The progress my administration delivered on affordable housing, policing, and community investments set a new bar that Corey will be expected to build upon. 

“The people of Pittsburgh demand progress for everyone, especially people and communities who have been left out for far too long, and must continue regardless of who is in the Mayor’s Office. 

“I got into public service because I grew up in the very neighborhoods this city too often left behind — and I wanted to make sure City Hall finally delivered for everyone. As Mayor, I made sure my administration didn’t just bring people previously left behind to the table, we changed who the table was built for. 

“From the bottom of my heart — thank you, Pittsburgh. Let’s keep fighting for each other.”

UPDATE 10:25 p.m.:

Former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto took to X to congratulate Corey O’Connor for earning the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Pittsburgh.

In the same post, he thanked incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey for “stepping into the ring” and his “dedicated service to the people of Pittsburgh.”

UPDATE 10:05 p.m.: Corey O’Connor wins the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh mayor, according to the Associated Press.

UPDATE: 9:50 p.m.: Tony Moreno won the Republican mayoral primary race in Pittsburgh, according to the Associated Press.

UPDATE 9:45 p.m.: There are now 61% of City of Pittsburgh precincts reporting results. Those preliminary results have O’Connor with 54% of the vote and Gainey with 44%.

UPDATE 9:30 p.m.: With just under half of precincts reporting results in the City of Pittsburgh, preliminary results show O’Connor leads Gainey 55% to 43%.

UPDATE 8:55 p.m.: 32 of 402 precincts are reporting results in the City of Pittsburgh.

UPDATE 8 p.m.: Polls have now closed in Pennsylvania.

UPDATE 4:55 p.m.: Allegheny County provided another update:

All 77,995 vote by mail ballots that were received by the warehouse have been removed from their inner and outer envelopes and scanned.  Elections staff will continue to check with the nearby USPS center for any additional ballots and collect ballots at the County Office Building (Ross Street Entrance) until 8:00 PM. Initial mail in results will be posted here after 8:00 PM: Election Night Reporting In-person results typically begin to post around 9:00 PM and should be done by midnight.

Any additional mail in ballots received today prior to 8:00 PM will be added into results throughout the evening. The majority of County staff at the warehouse have been released for the day. A small number of staff remain to count any final ballots that come in by 8:00 PM.

Voters on the Southside who vote in Pittsburgh 17-2 and 17-2 at the Southside Market House may have thought the building was inaccessible due to previous road closures for the movie filming in the area. We want to stress that building is open and accessible.

Barring emergencies or oddities this will be my final update prior to polls closing.

UPDATE 11:20 a.m.: Allegheny County provided another update:

The Judge of Elections at polling place Pittsburgh 31-7, (MT RISE BAPTIST CHURCH) 500 Ingot Ave. in the Homestead/Hayes area smelled natural gas. Out of an abundance of caution we have closed the precinct and voters are being redirected to Pittsburgh 31-1, (HOLY ANGELS CHURCH) 408 Baldwin Road. The new polling place is approximately 6 minutes away.

At the warehouse, all inner envelopes have been removed from outer envelopes, and ballots are being extracted from inner envelopes. Scanning of the ballots to tabulate results has begun. Results will be posted after 8 pm here Election Night Reporting

UPDATE 9:30 a.m.: Allegheny County said all polling place issues have been resolved, and provided the following update:

111,634 mail in ballots were sent to voters. As of today, 77,002 vote by mail ballots have been returned and 76,612 have been accepted. The balance of 390 ballots had errors (naked, no signature). If they were received by elections by Saturday they were returned to voters with directions for curing. As cured ballots are returned, they are added to the “accepted” group.

UPDATE 7:45 a.m.: Allegheny County said they’ve received some reports of issues at polling locations that failed to open at 7 a.m. Those issues included power outages, equipment issues and buildings not being opened.

The county said most of the issues have been resolved, but they’re still working on opening polling places at West View 2 and 3, Pittsburgh 4-2 and 4-19, and Pittsburgh 15-19.

At West View 2 (St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran church) and 3 (West View Elementary), there was an equipment issue that delayed voting. Elections staff were deployed to address the issue. At Pittsburgh 4-2 and 4-19 (shared polling place, Community Human Services Food Bank) and Pittsburgh 15-19 (Glen Hazel Family HACP), poll workers were having issues gaining entrance into the building. County elections staff are contacting the building owners to gain access.

At the elections warehouse, 140 county staff are doing a final check of outer envelopes for vote-by-mail ballots to confirm the ballots have been signed and that the ballot is contained inside an inner envelope.

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