Allegheny County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Kraus appeared to have won his primary, beating out fellow hopeful Dom Costa for county sheriff. Early Wednesday morning, Kraus was leading by nearly 3,700 votes, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. The two Democrats were vying to replace retiring Sheriff William Mullen, who has served in the office since 2007.
Kraus joined a crowd of supporters in Ross Township Tuesday evening, but left the event early. A campaign staffer said Kraus was anxiously awaiting the final vote count after periods where the two candidates were separated by 2,000 votes.
He served as a Pittsburgh police officer for decades before moving to the sheriff’s office, where he was later appointed chief deputy in 2014. Dom Costa was a police officer in East McKeesport before becoming a Pittsburgh police commander and the city’s chief of police in 2006.
Mel Evans / AP
Election petitions were due Tuesday from candidates who hope to appear on the May 18 primary ballot, and a number of races appear to have drawn few competitors. Which may be just as well, because that leaves more room for judicial candidates.
There are nine spots available in Allegheny County’s Common Pleas Court. In all, 39 candidates are seeking them, either as Democrats or Republicans or – because judicial candidates can seek the nomination of either party – both.
Happily for voters, perhaps, and the people who lay out the ballots, history suggests some of those candidates will withdraw between now and the primary. Other candidates for all the races on the ballot may be removed against their will if defects are found in their petitions in the days ahead. (Conversely, some candidates may seek to run write-in campaigns in hopes of appearing on the November ballot without filing petitions first.)
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Courtesy of Nicola Henry-Taylor
It wouldn’t be an election cycle in Allegheny County without some complaining about the local Democratic Party apparatus.
But already the complaints this year are louder than in many previous cycles, with the unhappiness amplified by a wide-open field of judicial contenders – and by long-standing grievances about whether the county’s Democratic committee reflects, and responds to, the voters it will need in the future.
“It’s almost like there might be two different Democratic parties – a leadership that has a more traditional mindset, and a new world that is more inclusive,” said Nicola Henry-Taylor, one of nearly three dozen candidates for Common Pleas Judge.
Former Pittsburgh Police chief and state representative Dom Costa is running for Allegheny County sheriff.
“Our county and our country are in the midst of unrest and turmoil right now, and I believe that my life has prepared me to lead during these uncertain times,” Costa said in a statement.
The statement invoked Costa s gratitude for first responders, medical professionals, teachers and “grocery store employees and truck drivers who insure that we have all the essentials we needed. And it was in their “spirit of service and goodness that I am announcing that I am running for the office of Sheriff. My career in public service has equipped me to protect and serve this community that I love.”