The Courier’s Primary Election Endorsements

DEVON TALIAFERRO, KHARI MOSELY, DeWITT WALTON

Yes, it’s true…elections that don’t take place in a presidential election year have less overall voter participation.

Fortunately, you can be one of the people that will participate. In this, a non-presidential election year, you can still make your voice heard and vote, because it’s also true that elections featuring local candidates often can affect your everyday life more than the actual president of the United States.

Every day, seemingly, we hear about the Allegheny County Chief Executive, or Allegheny County District Attorney. We’re very familiar with our Pittsburgh City Council, School Board and Allegheny County Council.

These races are important. So, let’s buck the trend, and let’s go out and vote on May 16. Assure that at the end of the day, you’ve done your part in voting for whom you believe is best for the job.

The New Pittsburgh Courier soundly believes that Khari Mosley is the best choice for Pittsburgh City Council’s District 9, the seat held for more than a decade by Rev. Ricky Burgess. Mosley has been fighting for voting rights, affordable housing, economic development, and Black empowerment for more than 20 years. He’s very visible in the community, and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey has endorsed him from sunup to sundown. We know that Mosley will hold his own in City Council and is grounded in his beliefs.

The Courier is endorsing Devon Taliaferro for Pittsburgh School Board District 2. Four years ago, the Courier did not endorse Taliaferro in her first foray for the School Board. Since her victory, we have seen how passionate Taliaferro is for helping all youth in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Her days acting as a de facto mentor at Brashear High School, her ability to speak to parents in a down-to-earth manner, and her commitment to transparency should be rewarded with another term on the School Board.

The television has been inundated with ads for Allegheny County Chief Executive and Allegheny County District Attorney. We applaud Rich Fitzgerald for his unwavering commitment to increasing African American employment at the county level. And over the years as executive, he has spoken with the Courier editorial board numerous times to prove his efforts to bettering Allegheny County for African Americans.

We can’t say the same for Stephen A. Zappala Jr., the current district attorney. He found himself under fire in 2021 for allegedly not taking plea deals for clients of Black attorney Milton Raiford, after Raiford allegedly criticized the DA’s office. Some Black attorneys in Pittsburgh, including Frank Walker, have penned editorials on “Why Allegheny County needs a new DA.”

“Zappala has proven that, under his direction, the DA’s office is unwilling to confront racial inequities,” wrote Walker and attorney Rob Perkins, which appeared in the Courier earlier this spring. “This election season, we should hold Zappala accountable by voting him out of office.”

The Courier is in 100 percent agreement.

We endorse state Rep. Sara Innamorato for Allegheny County Chief Executive, and we endorse Matt Dugan for Allegheny County District Attorney. Representative Innamorato is someone we can see in the office for years. She has a wealth of fresh, new ideas to progress the county, and with her connections to Black political leaders (Mayor Gainey and Congresswoman Summer Lee have endorsed Rep. Innamorato), we are hopeful that she stays on the course that Fitzgerald ran in advancing Allegheny County for the betterment of African Americans.

As for Dugan, the Allegheny County Chief Public Defender has said that the DA’s office “must acknowledge the significant racial disparities in our criminal justice system and must actively work to eradicate those disparities with every decision and policy it implements.”

We will hold Dugan to this statement. We are hopeful he will create the change the DA’s office needs.

Allegheny County Chief Executive