Four candidates are vying to win a Nov. 8 special election to fill an open seat on Pittsburgh City Council. The District 5 seat was previously held by Corey O’Connor, but left open after he became Allegheny County Controller this summer.
Democrats selected community activist Barbara Warwick as their nominee to represent the deep blue district earlier this month. But GOP challenger Eugene Bokor and independents Matthew Mahoney and Robert McCune are hoping to provide alternatives.
“The prior four years there was a Democrat there [on the ballot] and no Republican running,” Bokor said. “So at least the people of District 5 have a choice this time.”
O’Connor won re-election bids unopposed in 2015 and 2019.
No matter who wins, there will be a change in the home neighborhood of District 5’s councilor. For a generation, the district has been represented by a Squirrel Hill resident — either O'Connor or his late father, Bob, or the elder O'Connor's one-time aide, Doug Shields. But none of the candidates on the ballot this November live in the neighborhood. Warwick and Mahoney live in Greenfield, Bokor lives in Lincoln Place and McCune lives in Hazelwood.
District 5 encompasses Squirrel Hill South, Greenfield, Regent Square, Swisshelm Park, Hazelwood, Glen Hazel, Hays, New Homestead and Lincoln Place.
Bokor is a retired nonprofit executive who served as the chief financial officer for Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh for nearly 40 years. He was also the chief financial officer of Focus North America, an Orthodox Christian nonprofit, and once served as an auditor for Allegheny County. Bokor said he aims to put those analytical skills toward increasing “transparency” in city government.
Bokor said another goal is to provide a different perspective during council meetings. He disagrees with the city’s parks tax — which voters themselves passed in 2019 — and a move to ban semi-automatic rifles and certain ammunition and accessories within city limits. O'Connor himself championed those measures, which were a response to the 2018 mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in the district. The measures have been in limbo ever since, as judges have ruled violate a state prohibition on gun laws at the local level.
“Pittsburgh City Council is trying to do a run around on state law and take away our Second Amendment rights,” Bokor said.
Mahoney is running as an independent. He works as a director of government affairs for Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Solar Center. The Army National Guard veteran served in Iraq in 2004 before he began a career in the nonprofit space. He's also worked with AmeriCorps and the Veterans Leadership Program, and claims his diverse background reflects the district.
“District 5 is a very diverse and unique neighborhood… I think with the variety of the people that we have in our district, we need somebody that represents balanced leadership,” Mahoney said. “We have some of the richest communities in our district and we have some of the poorest. We need to divert resources where they’re most needed and show those residents that we care.”
Mahoney considers himself a moderate who can appeal to both sides of the political aisle. He wants to see Council take steps to increase affordable housing and accessible public transportation.
McCune, who is also running as an independent, did not respond to multiple interview requests.
All three men have an uphill battle against Warwick, a Greenfield community advocate who works in information technology. Warwick jumped into the race in May before it was certain that O’Connor would leave his position on Council. She was a key figure in a fight against the Mon-Oakland Connector transit project, which would have used a shuttle to create a transportation link between Oakland, the lower part of Greenfield, Hazelwood, and Hazelwood Green.
The project was ultimately shelved earlier this year.
Warwick told WESA earlier this month that having a representative from Greenfield "is very significant, especially with all the development that's going on at Hazelwood Green." The site, once the home of a former steel mill, is slated for a massive mixed-use redevelopment in the coming years.
