Joseph Sabino Mistick: In Pittsburgh, a small race offers a big lesson

The big news from last week’s primary election was Democratic incumbent Summer Lee’s victory over Bhavini Patel in the race to represent the people of the 12th Congressional District. But a little-noticed race for a much smaller state legislative seat may offer an important lesson locally.

As a member of the “Squad” in Congress, Lee is one of the Democratic Party’s leading contrarians. Lee says that she continues to support President Joe Biden, but Patel criticized her for going south on some major issues, especially the president’s support for Israel.

That made the Lee-Patel race a national story because the district includes Squirrel Hill, the center of Jewish life in Pittsburgh.

As Kris Maher and Aaron Zitner wrote in The Wall Street Journal before the election, “the Hamas attack and the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. have made the debate especially resonant in Pittsburgh, where a gunman killed 11 worshipers in 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. It was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.”

Lee raised nearly four times what Patel raised. And Lee was endorsed by the region’s other two progressive leaders — Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.

But that trio badly overplayed its hand in the 34th District state House race when it endorsed challenger Ashley Comans over incumbent Abigail Salisbury. Salisbury won by a 2-1 margin.

By all accounts, Salisbury has been a hardworking and loyal member of the House Democratic Caucus. She was endorsed by the Allegheny County Democratic Committee and organized labor. Most importantly, she had the backing of her House colleagues, who were not happy that one of their own was targeted by the trio.

So why would they try to unseat Salisbury and risk the wrath of the county’s legislative delegation when the city and county will be looking for significant state funding to avert a coming fiscal disaster?

Not because of Salisbury’s voting record. At a campaign forum, Comans could not identify one vote that she would have cast differently.

Not because Salisbury is not progressive enough. Endorsed by the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, the Stonewall Democrats and LGBTQ groups, she has her own progressive bona fides.

The simple reason that Lee and Gainey and Innamorato supported Comans over Salisbury is that Comans is their friend. According to WESA-FM’s Chris Potter, “Gainey cited personal loyalty and longstanding family ties as the reason for his support for Comans.”

Innamorato told WESA that she was standing behind Comans because “she stood behind me.”

Don’t get me wrong. In politics, recognizing your friends and supporters is a virtue. But there are ways to do that without risking the relationships that will be needed to ensure the goodwill of state government, especially when Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will be looking to state government and the Legislature for help.

In a mea culpa letter to the Democratic House Caucus, Innamorato acknowledged the “ramifications” that her attempt to unseat Salisbury may have on her “policy priorities in Harrisburg.”

And she urged members to do what she did not do when she put her friend ahead of the good of the county. She told them to consider “what is best for the region, as you advance budget discussions.”

In Squirrel Hill, where I live, that’s called chutzpah.