U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio launched his reelection campaign Thursday with a kick-off event at a social hall in Green Tree.
Deluzio, 41, of Fox Chapel, is seeking a third term representing a district that includes part of Allegheny County, including much of the Alle-Kiski Valley, and all of Beaver County. He is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Beaver County Sheriff Tony Guy is seeking the Republican nomination.
“I think the fight for the American dream has to be in the heart of what we do, what my party has to do,” Deluzio said in his 18-minute campaign speech. “If you work hard and play by the rules, the American dream should be yours, period.”
Deluzio, a member of the Transportation & Infrastructure and Armed Services committees, said a top priority is working to combat what he called the nation’s “cost-of-living emergency,” which he said is making health care and housing out of reach for many Americans already strained by the increasing costs of everyday expenses including child care, prescriptions, insurance and groceries.
He said another focal point needs to be increasing efforts to improve the nation’s roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure, which he said would generate more good-paying jobs and help grow the middle class.
Deluzio said he also wants to continue fighting against what he called corruption and abuse of power by the Trump administration and corporate giants.
In recent months, Deluzio has clashed with the Trump administration over a video he and five Democratic colleagues made telling servicemembers they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders. President Donald Trump argued that the video amounted to “seditious behavior” and could be punishable by death. The president said each of the lawmakers should be arrested and put on trial.
The video came out as the administration’s decisions to send military troops to U.S. cities and conduct military strikes on suspected drug boats faced intense scrutiny.
The lawmakers didn’t cite any specific orders that they felt were illegal and should be ignored, but they maintained that the obligation to refuse illegal orders is established military protocol.
A federal grand jury in Washington rejected an attempt by federal prosecutors to indict Deluzio and the other members of Congress — all former members of the military or intelligence community — for releasing the video. The lawmakers said they were considering taking legal action.
“Patriotism demands courage in this moment,” Deluzio said. “You sent a fighter to Washington, and I am not done.”
Deluzio grew up in Thornburg and graduated from Bishop Canevin High School in Pittsburgh’s East Carnegie. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Naval Academy and serve as a Naval officer, including a tour of duty in Iraq. He later earned a law degree from Georgetown University.
Deluzio worked at the Brennan Center for Justice with a focus on voting rights and election security and as a legal and policy scholar at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security.