BILL PEDUTO AND ED GAINEY
State Rep. Ed Gainey, D-East Liberty, has scheduled a 2 p.m. press conference for March 27 to announce he is relinquishing the Democratic city chairmanship he has held for three years to endorse Bill Peduto for mayor of Pittsburgh.
“I have tremendous respect for committee people and the process, but this year I don’t think it was as accurate as it could have been,” he said. “So I am stepping down as chair, so I can vote for the man I believe is the best candidate in the race, Bill Peduto.”
Party committee members are compelled to support their party’s endorsed candidates in primary and general elections. Failure to do so can result in sanctions, including loss of a committee seat.
Though he extended his best wishes to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his family, Gainey said the mayor’s late decision to not seek another term, coming after the deadline for candidates to apply for the party endorsement, did not allow the committee members a chance to properly vet the other candidates.
“It’s not the committee people who are at fault, it’s the situation,” he said. “And because I respect the committee and the process, I’m stepping down because it’s the right thing to do.”
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