Of all the results of last Tuesday night’s primary election, the biggest surprise may have been the Democratic nominee for state treasurer.
Allegheny County Erin McClelland defeated Erie County State Representative Ryan Bizarro to advance to the general election ballot against the GOP incumbent Stacy Garrity.
McClelland received 54.24% of the unofficial total vote (544,296), an eight-point victory over Bizzarro, the state party-endorsed candidate, who received 45.76% (459,135).
The treasurer holds a considerate position in state government, but has a lot of power over state investments and makes sure the state’s bills are paid.
So how did she do it?
It appears to have been a combination of county, name and gender.
“For a woman with Allegheny County next to her name on the ballot in these lesser-known statewide races, geography makes a huge difference. That’s what introduced her to the game of football,” he said Mickey MouseDemocratic consultant in Pittsburgh he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Still, Bizzarro is a member of the House Democratic leadership as policy chairman. He also raised over $500,000, while his opponent raised five times less. Bizzarro spent almost 250,000 on the campaign. dollars, and McClelland about 14 thousand. dollars.
“In hindsight, I imagine a strategy of reliance [the Democratic party’s endorsement] leading him to victory doesn’t seem like the right solution,” Democratic strategist JJ Balaban he said. “Some candidates run the risk of confusing elites with voters.
“It’s not fair to an outstanding state representative, but being an outstanding state representative only has value if people know that you are an excellent state representative,” he added. “When you put it together as ‘A woman of Irish descent from Allegheny County versus a man with a strange-sounding name from Erie County,’ it doesn’t sound so strange.”
PoliticsPA has prepared an interactive map showing how McClelland and Bizzarro fared in the Commonwealth’s 67 counties, 53 of which were carried by an Allegheny County resident.
