The moderate Mon Valley mayor attempting to derail Rep. Summer Lee’s reelection bid has withdrawn from the Democratic Party primary.
Turtle Creek Mayor Adam Forgie announced Tuesday he is shutting down his campaign.
Lee, a Swissvale Democrat seeking her third term to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, was officially endorsed Sunday by the Allegheny County Democratic Committee.
“Many circumstances have brought me to this decision,” said Forgie, 48, in a prepared statement. “I am extremely grateful for all of those who supported me during this campaign.”
Forgie, a middle-school history teacher whose fourth term as mayor started in January, has criticized Lee as polarizing and out of touch with district voters.
“I think the biggest threat to us right now is division — our country was founded on compromise, and polarization brings stagnation,” Forgie said. “(Divisiveness) doesn’t get results. It just breeds more hate. And people want results.”
A campaign spokeswoman for Lee, 38, declined comment Tuesday.
The congresswoman recently told TribLive that politicians need new tactics to push back against what she called encroaching authoritarianism.
“What we’re facing is so unprecedented, we can’t approach it in the ways we have in the past,” Lee said. “Everyday people want to have an equal voice in the government. And you can’t have that when Elon Musk is buying a seat in the Oval Office.”
Lee’s only remaining competitor in the May primary is William Parker, an app developer who previously launched low-budget bids to become Allegheny County executive, Pittsburgh mayor and U.S. senator.
Parker was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Lee shot off to a commanding fundraising lead in 2025 over Forgie. She raised $1.13 million last year for her reelection bid — 50 times as much as Forgie’s $26,000 — campaign finance reports show.
Republicans, too, have a primary contest May 19.
Retired businessman James Hayes, who unsuccessfully ran to unseat Lee in 2024, is running against Benson Fechter, a self-described conservative from Pittsburgh’s South Hills inspired to run after the killing of activist Charlie Kirk.
Pennsylvania’s 12th District includes much of Pittsburgh. But the district’s 750,000 registered voters stretch from South Hills suburb Bethel Park to Monroeville to tiny and more rural Westmoreland County municipalities like Irwin, whose population doesn’t top 4,000.
Democrats hold a 2-to-1 voter-registration edge in Allegheny County, much of which falls in the 12th Congressional District.
Forgie did not seek the Allegheny County Democratic Committee’s endorsement for the May primary, according to Kate Garfinkel, the committee’s chairwoman.
Garfinkel told TribLive Tuesday that area Democrats are excited to support Lee at the polls.
“We’re fully behind her,” she said.
Michelle McFall, who runs the Democratic Party committee in Westmoreland County, did not return phone calls seeking comment. But McFall previously lauded Lee’s work in Washington.
“People want to feel like they’re being heard. And I think Summer Lee has done that,” she said. “She’s a courageous leader and — I think she gets criticized for this: she does not yield. I think we’re at a point in our history where that courage will be remembered.”