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Tucked away in the western reaches of Pittsburgh, City Council District 2 is often overlooked by the rest of the city — as many district residents are all too aware. But it may get some unaccustomed attention in the 2025 election cycle.
The crucial city race next year will be the contest for mayor, but District 2 may be the only one of four council districts on the ballot next year that has real drama.
It’s the only seat that will be open, now that incumbent Theresa Kail-Smith has decided not to run for a fifth term: Incumbents Anthony Coghill of District 4, Dan Lavelle of District 6, and Erika Strassburger of District 8 all say they plan to run for another term.
Kail-Smith, who previously served as council president, formally announced her plans not to run again early this month, but she’s long been open about the fact that she is in her last term. So it’s little surprise that a number of prospective successors — including at least one Republican — have either declared bids or are said to be pondering them.
Two Democrats have officially thrown their hat in the ring for the May 20 primary: Kim Salinetro of Banksville and David Binkoski of Duquesne Heights.
Salinetro is Kail-Smith’s chief of staff and has worked in that role since Kail-Smith took office. But Salinetro has her own local roots. She describes herself as a “lifelong resident of District 2” who grew up in Sheraden and now lives in Banksville, where she leads the Banksville Civic Association. And while Kail-Smith has previously said she would run for only a single term, Salinetro said, “I definitely haven’t made that kind of decision yet … I just want to win this one.”
“These people are like family to me,” Salinetro said about district residents. “Not just constituents, they’re neighbors, they’re friends. And I want to continue giving them the kind of service that we've always given them, the kind of attention that our community deserves.”
Binkoski, by contrast, is a newcomer. A director of retail operations with Parkhurst Dining at Duquesne University, he moved to Pittsburgh eight years ago — first to the South Side Slopes, which lies outside District 2, and two years ago to Duquesne Heights. He says his interest in local politics grew out of his work with the Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, where he holds a board seat.
“This is a people-first campaign,” he said. “A lot of people feel only developers and certain individuals get their voices heard, and if you’re not part of the clique, almost, your voice doesn’t matter.”
With the race only now just getting underway, contrasts between the candidates have yet to emerge. But Salinetro is backed by Kail-Smith, a frequent critic of Mayor Ed Gainey. Binkoski’s supporters include Allegheny County Councilor Bethany Hallam, a leading progressive voice.
And one early difference between the two council candidates involves their views on housing.
Kail-Smith has been at odds with Gainey about an administration proposal that would streamline approval for group housing, including smaller homeless shelters and halfway houses. Kail-Smith has proposed a rival bill that gives residents and Council more opportunity to weigh in on or thwart such proposals — and a public hearing she called drew angry and fearful responses from residents concerned about homeless people harming neighborhoods.
Salinetro said she supports her boss’s approach: “I think it’s a bad place to be as a resident, and as a council member, to know that you have no voice in projects that may happen in communities, that you can’t help in any way."
Still, she said, “I would love to have a working relationship with [the mayor] to make things happen in our community. You have to be able to work with them, even though we may be very different.”
For his part, Binkoski said, “I am not going to buy into the verbiage of ‘illegal immigrants and homeless people going to be taking over our district.’ … I think that’s wrong, it’s misinformation, it’s fear-mongering.”
More broadly, he said he backed other affordable housing legislation supported by the mayor, including zoning law and other changes. Supporters say the amendments would make housing easier to build, but Kail-Smith and others worry about the effect on existing residents.
“We finally have a bill, and unfortunately some of our leaders who don’t have backbones are blocking it,” Binkoski said. “That won’t be me.”
And while the two candidates both identify public safety as a district concern, they emphasize different approaches to addressing it.
“I would like to advocate for more police, not less,” Salinetro said. “Our community wants to see police on our streets all the time. They want to see it often, and they should. They deserve that.”
Binkoski took pains to say that “Safety isn’t just arresting people. It’s investing in parks and afterschool programs and giving people healthy places to enjoy their city.”
Whoever wins the Democratic primary — whether Salinetro, Binkoski, or some other Democrat yet to confirm their interest — may still have another hurdle to clear after May 20. Erin Koper, a Republican activist and community volunteer in her neighborhood of Elliott, says she’s “highly considering” a run.
Koper, who blamed “soft-on-crime Democrats” for community ills at the 2024 Republican National Convention, said that if she decides to run, she’d make an announcement early next year. Pittsburgh is heavily Democratic, but the West End is a long way — geographically and otherwise — from the resolutely liberal East End, and parts of District 2 backed Republican Joe Rockey over Democrat Sara Innamorato in the 2023 county executive race.
“Many people in the community have reached out to me” about a run, Koper said. And after “a big year of wins, the Republicans in our district are motivated to support a candidate from our side."
If so, that would give Pittsburgh yet another chance to keep their eyes on District 2 next year.
Chris Potter contributed to this report.
