PA-HD34: Former police officer, attorney face off in special election to replace Summer Lee
A special election is less than a week away to fill Congresswoman Summer Lee’s former Pennsylvania House seat, which is split between affluent Pittsburgh suburbs like Edgewood and less affluent ones like Braddock.
Pennsylvania Democrats need to sweep three special elections in Allegheny County next week to win a majority in the House. Of the three, the easiest place to win could well be the 34th district. Democrat John Fetterman received more than 82% of the vote there in his 2022 Senate race – about 30 percentage points more than his statewide average. Turnout for special elections is typically low – a factor that could play a role in shaping the outcome.
The Republican, Robert Pagane, is a former police officer and he said he would focus on attracting more funding and try to hold judges more accountable when they provide lenient sentences. Pagane said that a lack of police officers is a more pressing issue than police accountability and that more people would want to become officers if the public stopped second-guessing the police so much.
The Democrat, Abigail Salisbury, has pushed to make police hiring in Swissvale borough more open – and to include more discussion of how to avoid police shootings. She thinks the small municipalities in Allegheny County will have to begin to share police resources more in order to beef up their ranks.
https://www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2023-02-01/former-police-officer-attorney-face-off-in-special-election-to-replace-summer-lee
