Gov. Josh Shapiro improved on Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ 2024 margin in all of Allegheny County’s 130 municipalities en route to a landslide re-election Tuesday. His vote share came in 23 points to the left of the last presidential vote overall, and the governor improved on his 2022 margins in 112 of the 130 municipalities.
Shapiro’s fellow Democrats flipped one legislative seat in the county and made inroads in others that had been solidly red. Allegheny County Republicans, though, managed to defend four of their five seats despite historically adverse political winds.
A look at the municipal map shows the swings were more pronounced in the suburbs where Democrats were hunting for gains in state House seats, and less pronounced where turnout was less energetic in urban and more racially diverse areas.
Tom Duerr, a longtime South Hills Democratic operative, said this year brought a breakthrough for the party in terms of top-of-ticket success trickling down to legislative candidates. And while not every cycle will have a national Democratic wave like this one, Duerr said further gains are not out of reach.
“I think in the right environment, you could see a Democrat in the state House representing Pine-Richland, or South Fayette,” Duerr said. “These demographic shifts and voting changes, ignore them at your own peril.”
Republican Rep. Andrew Kuzma, of Elizabeth Township, held onto his seat in the county’s southeast corner, but his margin of victory slipped from 24 points in 2024 to seven this year. He chalked that up to backlash against the party in power nationally, which historically surfaces during midterms.
“Being that we’re a swing state, we experience the … effect of having the incumbent party in office,” he said. “At the same time, we were able to pull through because I’ve demonstrated that I deserve to be re-elected and I’ve worked really hard.”
Swissvale resident Marvin Robinson voted early Tuesday and said opposing the Trump administration was his top motivation.
“Anything to get that out of the White House is what I’m for,” Robinson said.
In Springdale Borough, however, 60-year-old Paul Whale said data center development was weighing on his mind more than anything else. He’s a registered Republican but said he was considering supporting Shapiro because he thought state Treasurer Stacy Garrity was more likely to promote data center development.
“I don’t know too much about the Republican candidate other than they want to put up all the data centers,” Whale said.
Voter turnout fell in Allegheny County this year compared to the 2022 midterms.
The countywide map shows a nationwide trend found its way here: Where turnout was strong this year, Democrats made inroads.
Local Democrats set their sights on the 44th District as their top Republican target this year, and Democratic nominee Hadley Haas received more than $1 million in support to try to energize voters. The result: Turnout fared better there than in most of the county, and Haas unseated Republican Rep. Valerie Gaydos by six points.
Five of the municipalities with the highest voter turnout compared to 2022 were in the 44th District. Moon, its largest population center, posted 94% of its 2022 turnout. The second-biggest municipality, Findlay, matched its 2022 turnout. Overall, the district voted 14 points more Democratic for the state House race than in 2024.
The map shows Democrats made inroads elsewhere, even if they fell short of other attempted flips. Turnout was better than average in the county’s northernmost municipalities, where Democratic state House nominee Jeremy Ferderber achieved an eight point swing to the left from 2024, though he fell short of unseating Republican Rep. Jeremy Shaffer, who prevailed by six points.
In the Allegheny County portion of the 46th District, turnout held steady in South Fayette, and Democratic nominee Mike Crossey shifted the vote 26 points to the left, while the Washington County portion helped Republican incumbent Jason Ortitay to re-election.
Shapiro routed Garrity to win re-election and improved on his 2022 margin in the process. He won Allegheny County by 43 points, up four points from 2022 and more than double the margin achieved by Harris, the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee.
He improved on his 2022 margin in 112 of the county’s 130 municipalities.
Shapiro again showed an ability to win in places where Democratic presidential candidates have struggled. He carried 38 municipalities that Trump carried in 2024, including four where Trump won by more than 20 points: Liberty, Elizabeth Borough, West Deer and Jefferson Hills.
Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
Lucas Dufalla contributed.
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