Pittsburgh businessman Thomas West announces run for mayor on GOP ticket

Yet another candidate for Pittsburgh mayor has entered the race to unseat Ed Gainey.

Thomas West, a 48-year-old businessman from Highland Park, is running as a Republican.

He will battle Anthony Moreno, a former Pittsburgh police officer, for the GOP nomination in the May primary.

West announced his candidacy Tuesday afternoon in East Liberty’s business district, billing himself as a political outsider and the city’s first gay candidate for mayor. He stood among supporters, family and his longtime partner, Adam Childers, 41.

“What I always hear from my friends and people who live here is Pittsburgh never changes — well, we’ve got to,” West told reporters. “The city is a shell of what it once was.”

West complained that parts of Pittsburgh are suffering from post-pandemic stagnation in terms of business growth and development. He also said not all residents or neighborhoods have benefited equally from city policies and investments.

A Greene County native, West said he moved to Pittsburgh in 2001. He said he is a former TV news producer for both WPXI and WTAE who left broadcasting to open TRIM Pittsburgh, a men’s clothing store in East Liberty, about 11 years ago. Today the store is in Lawrenceville.

“I believe in this city,” he said. “That’s why I decided to live here and that’s why I decided to open my business here.”

West described himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. He identified public safety as his No. 1 issue.

“I am not a radical. I am a common-sense person,” West said. “I just believe this city government needs a wake-up call.”

During his campaign announcement, West related an anecdote about a man who, he said, tried to assault him and his partner several years ago in Downtown Pittsburgh.

“The No. 1 priority of a mayor is to keep people safe — full stop,” West said. “It’s time to confront these issues head-on, building a safer and more secure future for all of us.”

When asked about the drop in Pittsburgh of homicides and nonfatal shootings during Gainey’s tenure, West stressed it’s also important to quash lesser crimes, such as assaults, burglaries and car break-ins.

“There’s more than just murders,” West said. “That’s glossing over the whole issue.”

West said he wants to do more to stimulate businesses, both small and large. He said he agreed with Democrats that major nonprofits like UPMC need to chip in to help support the city.

Gainey and other city leaders for years have pushed for major nonprofits to provide payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, that could be particularly helpful with the city facing financial challenges and decreasing revenues.

“They should pay,” West said. “And I’d work with them to pay.”

West was not specific about how he would bolster dwindling city police staffing numbers.

Republican voters in Pittsburgh haven’t been faced with a contested spring primary since 2001. The city’s GOP committee doesn’t intend to endorse either candidate before voters take to the polls, according to Todd McCollom, the committee chairman.

The winner of the Republican primary will face either Gainey or his Democratic challenger, Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor.

The Moreno, Gainey and O’Connor campaigns did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated how long it has been since Republican voters in Pittsburgh faced a contested spring primary for mayor.