Republican Jacob Dumont on Monday announced he’s running for Pittsburgh City Council, aiming to unseat council’s president, Democrat R. Daniel Lavelle, in November’s general election.
Dumont, 33, of Marshall-Shadeland, operates Northside Action Media, an online platform covering news from around Council District 6, which he now hopes to represent.
The district includes Perry Hilltop, the Hill District, Marshall-Shadeland, Uptown, Manchester, California-Kirkbride and parts of Downtown and the North Shore.
Dumont, a lifelong Pittsburgher, said he was running for office because he was tired of the city’s one-party government.
“Especially in my district, we’re being underserved,” he told TribLive. “We’re just not getting to city hall on our needs.”
Pittsburgh hasn’t had a Republican council member since the 1930s, according to Todd McCollum, chairman of the Pittsburgh Republican Committee. That decade also marked the last time the city had a Republican mayor.
If elected, Dumont said, he would prioritize bringing a grocery store back to the Hill District after its lone grocer temporarily closed this month. He also wants to create more comprehensive strategies to fight blight, improve and address landslides.
So far, Lavelle is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. He was sworn in as a councilman in 2010 and was chosen to serve as the body’s president last year.
Lavelle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Republican and three Democrats are competing to replace retiring Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith in a district representing the West End.
The Democrats will square off in the May 20 primary.
McCollum said a Republican candidate will soon be announced to run against Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview.
Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill, also is seeking another term and is running unopposed so far.