“Don’t take this as a race,” Middleman told supporters at Savoy in the Strip District shortly after 10 p.m. (Lee herself, for one, bested a member of the noted Costa political dynasty last year.)
#Watch the middleman online series
Locally, she was bidding to be the latest in a series of progressive insurgents to challenge long-established Democrats with familiar names but little recent history of facing a challenger. She had hoped to join a group of progressives who, in recent years, have been elected district attorney in major jurisdictions, including Philadelphia. And despite Zappala’s advantage with labor, Middleman enjoyed the backing of the healthcare workers union, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. She did it with over $20,000 in help from UNITE, a political committee established by state Rep. She enjoyed the support of a well-organized corps of grassroots organizers that has propelled other progressives into local office in recent years: Her campaign marshaled an aggressive ground game, and campaign finance records show that by Tuesday, it had outraised Zappala by more than $65,000.Ĭampaign finance records show Middleman brought in more than $288,000 since June, compared to about $222,000 for Zappala during the same period. Middleman, meanwhile, cast herself as the progressive alternative, advocating more sweeping proposals to eliminate monetary bail completely and to decriminalize low-level offenses. His vote totals were boosted by straight-party votes cast by voters in both parties: Such votes made up slightly more than a quarter of all ballots cast. That strategy helped clinch the victory for him. He also staged a successful write-in campaign to appear on the Republican ticket Tuesday. He prevailed in his party’s primary in May and had the backing of organized labor. The incumbent also highlighted steps he has taken to reduce the use of cash bail. The Democrat touted his 21 years of experience as district attorney while also emphasizing his openness to reforms such as “diversionary programs” meant to link low-level offenders with drug and mental health treatment and community support. He struck similar notes throughout the campaign. “We changed how we handled bail, we changed incarceration … and I’m very proud of that,” he said. “People are going to disagree.”īut after fending off a challenge from his left, Zappala touted his record as a reformer who had made progressive changes to the criminal justice sytsem. “I represent 1.25 million people … and it’s not easy,” he said. Tuesday, Zappala acknowledged the race had been contentious. Speaking to supporters gathered at Cupka’s II on Pittsburgh’s South Side around 10:30 p.m. (Pittsburgh) - Democrat Stephen Zappala will remain Allegheny County District Attorney after winning a comfortable victory against Independent Lisa Middleman in Tuesday’s election.īy 11 p.m., Zappala appeared poised to post a roughly 10-point victory in the first competitive race he has faced in years.
Now, it’s time to find better ways to interact with you and ensure we meet your high standards of what a credible media organization should be.Īllegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala, at his victory party Tuesday night.
The days of journalism’s one-way street of simply producing stories for the public have long been over.
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