O'Connor outraises Gainey 3-to-1 in Pittsburgh mayor race this year; outside spending remains murky

The candidates running for mayor of Pittsburgh — and their allies — have filed their last complete financial reports before the May 20 Democratic primary. And while one progressive group reports spending $600,000 on TV ads to bolster Mayor Ed Gainey’s re-election prospects, the report filed by an ally of his challenger, Corey O’Connor, raises as many questions as answers.

The reports offer the most complete picture so far of the activities of Common Sense Change, which supports O’Connor, and the Working Families Party, which has been advertising heavily on behalf of Gainey.

The two groups run independent expenditure operations on behalf of their candidates: Such efforts do not have to follow campaign finance limits, but they are barred from coordinating their messages with the campaigns themselves.

Their finances, meanwhile, sometimes leave voters in the dark as well.

Common Sense Change reported raising $225,000 from April 1 through May 5 and spending just over $346,000 during that time. But the origin of much of that money is all but impossible to determine.




https://www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2025-05-12/pittsburgh-mayor-race-fundraising