Democratic county executive candidate Sara Innamorato is on the airwaves for the first time since the spring primary — and while her new 30-second spot takes a swing at opponent Joe Rockey, the Republican wasted little time in counterpunching this weekend.
“Allegheny County neighborhoods look out for each other,” the ad asserts. “Sara Innamorato shares our values, but Joe Rockey bankrolled Trump-supporting extremists, backed Republicans repealing reproductive rights and said he won’t stand up for the right to choose.”
The ad’s reference to “Trump-supporting extremists” is accompanied by a photograph of former Congressman Lou Barletta, an ardent Trump supporter whose 2018 Senate bid Rockey supported with a $1,000 donation, campaign finance records show. Rockey also donated $1,000 to a committee that seeks to elect Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives the same year, and he donated a total of $5,200 to former Senator Pat Toomey since 2016.
But in 2018 he also gave $1,000 to Democrat Conor Lamb’s bid to win a Congressional seat. (Lamb’s father and Rockey were both PNC bank executives at the time.) And overall, Rockey’s history of political giving is decidedly modest — he mostly contributed to a political committee that bundled contributions from fellow PNC employees — and never included Trump himself.
Rockey has responded to questions about reproductive rights by arguing that the issue is outside the purview of a county executive. “This election is not about national politics, such as reproductive health care," he said during a KDKA debate last week.
Rockey had the airwaves to himself throughout September, making use of the time to do introductory spots portraying himself as a salt-of-the-earth moderate. His campaign responded to Innamorato’s ad with a memo sent to media this weekend characterizing the attack as a sign of weakness.
“Innamorato has ignored the proven theory that a candidate should first sell themselves before attacking an opponent,” the memo said. “[A]fter months of standing still she’s now running scared.”
The memo accused Innamorato of switching positions on a number of key issues during “a stumbling performance” in the KDKA debate. Innamorato, it said, was trying “to nationalize a local election by bringing up issues that have nothing to do with the duties and responsibilities of an Allegheny County Executive, while soft-peddling her own fringe solutions.”
Sam Wasserman, a spokesperson for the Innamorato campaign, made no apologies for the ad. “Voters deserve to know who Republican Rockey is because his values are out of line with the majority of Allegheny County residents,” he said.
And while abortion laws have typically been set by state officials, Wasserman said there were “several ways the next Allegheny County Executive could influence access to abortion” — by directing the use of county funds to nonprofit agencies on either side of the issue, or by appointments "who can give wide-ranging direction on matters of public health, including abortion."
Democrats note that while Rockey has portrayed himself as a moderate, his efforts are being boosted by hedge fund manager Jeff Yass, a bankroller of conservative causes through the statewide Commonwealth Leaders Fund political committee. The Fund gave $100,000 to Save Allegheny Inc., which is backing Rockey with TV spots. (Such support could prove a counterpoint to the backing of progressive groups like Working Families, who backed Innamorato heavily in the spring.)
Innamorato and Rockey are set to meet for a second and final debate on WTAE Tuesday night.
