Post-election

Election Day went as fast as it came. As just about everyone knows I was the Campaign Manager for Anthony Coghill. We fought a hard race but in the end came up a bit short to Natalia Rudiak who many people, including myself, saw winning. Congratulations to Rudiak for pulling off the upset and if I could lend some advice it would be to start working NOW. In my opinion Rudiak is already one of the more vulnerable members of Council before she even takes office. Why? I'll tell you. The 19th Ward. Rudiak was the beneficiary of us and Patrick Reilly beating each other up in the 19th Ward and her securing her base uncontested in Carrick. Rudiak would not have won if she would have faced us head to head or faced Reilly head to head. There are far too many votes in the 19th Ward. The single strong 19th Ward candidate will always beat a single candidate from Overbrook or Carrick. The votes are just not there for someone from the 29th and 32nd Wards.

Rudiak is already facing a two-front war. The first front is Carrick. The voters of Carrick are going to expect some big things from the hometown girl. She must deliver quickly and effectively in Carrick to grab onto that base for 4 years from now. The biggest front she will face is the 19th Ward. Brookline & Beechview are where the majority of the votes are so she is forced to spend a lot of time in these neighborhoods. At the expense of her base of Carrick? Are there enough resources/time for a Councilwoman from Carrick to use to face these two fronts? I'm not sure. This is a monumental task that not many people would be able to do.

How did she win? I believe she took advantage of people who were sick of political fighting and ran a message that made her seem above the fray even though she is a member of the Democratic Committee. What I find amusing about her campaign message is that she has ran on a platform that makes it seem that there won't be any deal makings with her down there and that she is above "politics as usual." Anyone who knows anything about politics knows that this isn't possible. With government comes deal cutting. If Rudiak believes that she can go down to 414 Grant Street and not cut any deals then she is in for a rude awakening, especially if she expects to get big projects done in the district.

-It was so nice to knock on over 1000 doors during the months leading up to the election. I never knew that District 4 had so many nice stretches in it. There are some damn nice areas all throughout the District, especially in Brookline & Overbrook. I can see why a lot of city employees call Overbrook home. It was really a pleasure to be apart of this campaign. I met some wonderful people who I will have life-long friendships with. So many people invested so much time and effort into the campaign. I am saddened that we lost because of the people who supported and worked for us. Facing those people and thanking them for their hard work after we lost was one of the hardest things to do. It was an unreal experience and one I would do all over again the same exact way.


-The next issue is the so-called Wagner power in the 19th Ward. Many articles have been written in the Post-Gazette about all of the political shenanigans that have transpired in the 19th Ward over the years. A lot of these shenanigans can be traced back to 19th Ward Chairman Pete Wagner and his supporters. Here is what I have to say about Wagner. What exactly has he done for his neighborhood of Beechview? NOTHING. Why does this man seem to exert so much power and influence? It's all about that Ward Chairmanship that he is barely hanging onto. Why is this guy still in power? Intimidation? Luck? I think it's a little bit of both. All throughout the campaign I met numerous Democratic Committee members who were deathly afraid of not putting a Patrick Reilly sign up in their yard for fear of Wagner coming knocking at their doors. What a disgraceful way to rule your Committee. I myself am a member of the Committee but I have not always backed the endorsed candidate. Whoever my Ward chairperson was they didn't seem to mind and certainly didn't call me to question why I did or didn't have a sign up for someone. I am my own man on the Endorsement vote and I have found that candidates appreciate that more than the falseness that seems to arise during the process where certain Committee members tell each candidate they are voting for them.

What does the endorsement of Pete Wagner get you anyway? It surely doesn't get you votes in the 19th Ward on Election Day. How did the Wagners do for Reilly in Beechview? It got him a 3rd place finish behind Rudiak. Are you serious? A Pete & Jack Wagner endorsed candidate finished 3rd in an alleged strong area for Wagner. How pathetic. It should be noted that Jack Wagner did a robo-call and a mailer on Reilly's behalf during the campaign.

If Wagner has so much pull and is so important then why is Broadway Avenue a ghost town? Why don't you see or hear about Wagner meeting with developers or getting involved in community work? This whole Wagner 19th Ward power is a complete joke/myth at this point. Wagner thought he would be slick during the Coghill/Reilly endorsement and sneak in a lady to vote for an out of town Committee member wearing a babushka as part of a elaborate disguise. It is my belief and others that Wagner was behind Committeeman Mike Foley sneaking in someone disguised as his mother. Luckily for Coghill he was smart enough to figure out that he was cheated that day. If Wagner is so damn strong then why did his candidate only win by a handful of votes with one of those votes being thrown out because of the proven cheating that went on? Are people sick of the Wagner strong-arming that has been prevalent over the past decade? It is my belief from conversations with Committee members that they are sick and tired of being told what to do on Endorsement day. They are tired of the threats and they are tired of the grudges.

I find it awfully amusing that on Election Day a a pro-Wagner Beechview Committeewoman woke up to 20 Coghill yard signs and 2 large 4x4 signs in her yard. Was this a desperate attempt to fire up a key Beechview Committeewoman? Did they think this would get this lady talking at her Beechview polling location? I do. I believe this was an "inside" job by someone in the Reilly/Wagner camp in attempt to discredit the Coghill campaign. While at the Coghill campaign I would never condone this sort of game playing by any of our volunteers. It's sort of funny that this fooling around didn't go on at all during the campaign but finally happened for the first time on Election Day.

Don't let my words fool you. I am not bashing Patrick Reilly at all. Reilly is a great person who comes from a great family. I believe that for the most part he was above all of this Wagner stuff and was probably quite pissed off at the end when he got dinged for 2 straight days in the Post-Gazette over a questionable mailer that he sent out. Ultimately I believe that the Wagner support hurt Reilly more than it helped him. I was sad to see some of the actions of people who supported him. Some of the people around Reilly really brought him down. One Committeeman from Overbrook thought it would be cute to park his truck which had two Reilly 4x4 signs in it facing both sides of traffic in front of State Senator Wayne Fontana's office one afternoon. How childish was that? What purpose did that serve? I am told that when questioned about it this Committeeman really didn't have an answer as to why he did it. There was no reason to start things up with another elected official just because he supports someone you don't. If this would have been a volunteer from our campaign I would have never allowed that to happen and then would have apologized to the elected official.

Another set of antics was that of Pete Wagner on Election Day. Wagner was very confrontational of us at the Beechview firehouse voting location and started to come after Coghill for no good reason. Instead of doing the right thing and just ignoring the other person like Coghill did Wagner decided to be the bully that he thinks he is and confront Coghill in front of poll workers and other voters. On his way out Wagner decided to stare me down and then make a comment about me when I asked him what he was laughing at. This guy is a complete joke who needs to be taken out of Pittsburgh politics. He does nothing but drag down the County Democratic Party. His support is overrated as is his "power." After that show of class on Election Day I believe that Pete Wagner should resign from the Democratic Committee. Anyone who tries to challenge another candidate to a fight on Election Day should not be in a position of power in the party. Have you no shame Mr. Wagner?

I can see why the people of the 4th Council District are fed up. Having people like Pete Wagner and his band of goons attempting to run things does nothing but divide people and ultimately gets nothing done for the district. It's time for a change at the top of the 19th Ward Democratic Committee. Hopefully someone will emerge next year and wrestle away that Ward Chairmanship away from him. It's also time for some young people to run for the Committee seats and to replace the rubber stamp Wagner votes that run rampant through the 19th Ward Democratic Committee.