Democratic candidates facing off in Pittsburgh’s mayoral race on Wednesday shared with potential voters their visions for Downtown, affordable housing and supporting the city’s Jewish community.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey boasted of the reduction in homicides since he took office and the NFL’s decision to bring the draft to the city in 2026.
His challenger, Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, argued the city has declined under Gainey’s leadership. He promised to rebuild the city, encouraging more businesses and housing.
The candidates did not debate in the forum. Instead, each fielded questions individually for an hour at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s South Oakland site. A corresponding livestream advertised as part of the event was unavailable.
Former police officer Tony Moreno and business owner Thomas West are running as Republicans but were not invited to not participate in Wednesday’s event.
Both Democratic candidates were asked about how they would combat anti-Semitism and support the city’s Jewish community, which has been targeted with repeated acts of vandalism amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“I’ve always condemned anti-Semitic behavior,” Gainey said, pointing out that he had reached out to impacted communities after vandalism and unrest at the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.
He apologized for having co-signed a letter that some in the Jewish community found offensive. The letter — co-signed by U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato — came on the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and called for “a ceasefire and an end to this cycle of violence.”
“I don’t ever want my Jewish community to ever think that they’re not seen or heard,” Gainey said. “My intent was not to cause any harm. My intent was not to be disrespectful at all.”
O’Connor — who grew up in Squirrel Hill, the neighborhood that witnessed the Tree of Life massacre, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history — said he, too, would push back on any attacks on the Jewish community.
Both candidates also denounced recent efforts to put on the ballot a referendum that would have barred the city from doing business with any entity that has ties to Israel, a referendum denounced by many as anti-Semitic. That measure will not appear on the ballot in May after issues arose with the signatures required to place the question on the ballot.
“Regardless of the anti-Semitism in the referendum, just looking at it from an operational standpoint, the City of Pittsburgh could not function,” O’Connor said.
Gainey, whose press secretary resigned after signing a petition in support of the controversial referendum, said the city’s legal department assured him such a measure would not withstand legal scrutiny.
“We didn’t support it, and at the end of the day, it didn’t get on the ballot,” Gainey said.
The two also discussed broader topics that have often been prevalent in conversations around the upcoming primary race.
Both agreed they want to welcome and support immigrants in the city, despite President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to crack down on deportations.
Both accused the other of accepting campaign donations from Republicans.
As Pittsburgh officials aim to revitalize a Downtown hit hard by the covid-19 pandemic, both Gainey and O’Connor acknowledged the city’s Central Business District will never again revolve around office space as it had before the virus prompted a widespread shift to remote work.
“There’s not going to be a Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 anymore,” Gainey said. “It’s permanently gone.”
He highlighted efforts already underway to transform the Golden Triangle into a residential neighborhood with more green space and amenities.
A $600 million revitalization campaign championed by Gov. Josh Shapiro includes a facelift for Market Square, a new outdoor civic space in the Cultural District and affordable housing in office towers that have been sitting empty since the pandemic.
Gainey touted also his administration’s work to remove homeless camps from Downtown and to open a designated public safety center in the area.
“We have done a lot to be able to improve the overall perception and safety of Downtown,” the mayor said. “It’s still going to take a minute for people to feel safe coming out of the pandemic — I get that — not to say that Downtown is perfect.”
O’Connor said he wants to explore additional reuses for empty office spaces, beyond just housing, a use he believes wouldn’t fit every Downtown building. He suggested incentivizing small and expanding businesses to move into the Golden Triangle.
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If elected, O’Connor said, he would also look to invest more in Downtown’s infrastructure. He suggested investments to beautify Boulevard of the Allies and Smithfield Street and to open a restaurant or storefront in Mellon Square.
When asked about making people feel safer Downtown, O’Connor said the city needs more stable leadership in the police bureau. The city has seen five police chiefs and acting chiefs since Gainey took office less than four years ago, with Chief Larry Scirotto in November quitting amid controversy over his plan to referee college basketball part-time and Acting Chief Christopher Ragland retiring amid political finger-pointing last month.
“That shows that there is no leadership in the mayor’s office that supports public safety,” O’Connor said.
The candidates also laid out different visions for bolstering affordable housing throughout the city.
Gainey pointed to robust investments his administration already has made in public safety. The Own PGH program has helped more than 160 low-income Pittsburghers buy their first homes, and the Pittsburgh Land Bank has for the first time started to help transform blighted properties into affordable housing.
A zoning package the mayor has pitched that would mandate all developers building 20 or more housing units earmark 10% of those units as affordable housing has yet to earn City Council approval, but Gainey stood by the controversial bill Wednesday.
“I’m laser-focused on affordability,” he said.
O’Connor, however, argued that the inclusionary zoning Gainey has pitched would not work in all city neighborhoods, as the mayor proposed.
O’Connor said it should be used as a tool that can be helpful in certain parts of the city, but each neighborhood should be considered separately.
O’Connor said he would work to incentivize developers to build housing in the city for various income levels.
“There are tax incentives. There is vacant land we can reuse for affordable units,” he said. “What we’re not doing right now is putting out a long-term plan or vision.”