State Rep. Rob Mercuri announces run for Congress in 17th District

Two-term state Rep. Rob Mercuri, R-Pine, is hoping to flip a congressional seat that covers many Pittsburgh suburbs.

Mercuri announced Tuesday his run for Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District, which includes all of Beaver County, as well as suburban communities in Allegheny County’s North Hills, Allegheny Valley, and several boroughs just east of Pittsburgh.

“Western Pennsylvanians are tired of partisan politics failing to deliver solutions,” said Mercuri. ”I’m running for Congress to help restore the promise of prosperity to our region and to revive the American dream, so each one of us has the opportunity to thrive.”

He joins Republican Jim Nelson, a pastor and a veteran from Penn Hills, in the primary contest that is sure to attract more challengers. The 17th District is considered a swing district and is on the national Republican shortlist of seats to flip.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, won the district by about seven points in 2022.

Mercuri said his political ambitions were shaped by his time serving in the U.S. Armed Services and two tours in Iraq. He said he was part of a class at West Point that lost 14 classmates in the Iraq War.

“From that perspective, looking back and coming back, you really want to appreciate what you have,” he said.

First elected to the state House in 2020, Mercuri said he is proud of the work he has accomplished in Harrisburg, including bills to loosen regulations on mortgage banking and autonomous vehicle testing.

Mercuri’s background is in the financial industry, where he worked with former PNC executive and Republican Allegheny County executive candidate Joe Rockey.

He said the 17th District is moderate and said his campaign would focus on bringing more jobs to the region and lowering inflation through balancing the budget.

“I am hearing from constituents and they are concerned about pocketbook issues,” said Mercuri. “Their grocery bills are too high.”

He said he supports economic policies that increase business activity to boost federal revenues. He said a thriving economy would help bring people off support of federal programs like unemployment and food stamps, which will help balance the budget.

“That is the (Ronald Reagan) model and that is the model I would follow,” said Mercuri.

He also said he wants to focus on providing economic incentives to energy companies to build and expand in Western Pennsylvania, and criticized the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Like other conservative politicians in the area, Mercuri took aim at Downtown Pittsburgh and said crime and drug use have become an issue.

“The glaring issue in Downtown Pittsburgh, whatever we can do from a federal level and policy level, I will support,” he said. “People need to feel safe Downtown.”

The 17th District, while still a swing seat, has been shifting blue over the years. Abortion is one area that has boosted Democrats in recent elections following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

Mercuri acknowledged that he is “pro-life,” but said he doesn’t support a federal ban on abortion, instead letting each state decide its own abortion laws.

Pennsylvania’s abortion laws currently limit abortions after the 23rd week of pregnancy, with exceptions for the health of the mother.

Mercuri said he supports Pennsylvania efforts to limit abortions earlier than is currently allowed. He wouldn’t specify exactly when an abortion should be banned in Pennsylvania, saying he believes “we need to work together to find the right timeline.”

In 2021, Mercuri co-sponsored a “heartbeat bill,” which proposed banning all abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is generally after about six weeks, with the exception of the health of the mother.

Mercuri claimed Deluzio was too “left of center” for the district, and he criticized his former status as a delegate for former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, and current affiliation with the U.S. House Progressive Caucus. He said local Democrats like Deluzio, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, Sen. John Fetterman and others are too aligned on policy and it is something he wants to combat.

Deluzio campaign spokesperson Zoe Bluffstone said Deluzio is focused on delivering results for Western Pennsylvanians, like lower costs for working families, creating good-paying union jobs, protecting abortion access, and “pushing back against massive corporations that have hurt folks in Western Pennsylvania.”

“Deluzio looks forward to contrasting this record with whichever anti-abortion, corporate bootlicking extremist emerges from this ugly Republican primary,” said Bluffstone.