Pittsburgh mayor took ‘MAGA’ donations too

“Can’t wait to see the back flips of the Gainey haters have to try to spin this one,” Bethany Hallam, a left-wing county councilwoman, posted on X in response to a story written by the U.K.-based Guardian raising questions about O’Connor’s donors. The Guardian headline read “Republican donors trying to unseat Pittsburgh’s progressive black mayor.”

The problem for Gainey is that not only has he also taken donations from Republican donors, but he’s taken a greater percentage than O’Connor has.

Democratic strategist Mike Mikus, who has worked on campaigns for more than three decades, said he finds it astonishing that Gainey would launch an attack on O’Connor on this common practice.

“Republicans have given him 23% of the money he has raised so far. That’s a larger percentage than was given to O’Connor,” said Mikus.

In total, nearly a quarter of the money Gainey has raised for his reelection has come from at least 42 donations from MAGA Republicans — donors who have also donated to President Donald Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA), Lou Barletta, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dave McCormick, or Govs. Greg Abbott (R-TX) or Ron DeSantis (R-FL), according to Open Secrets.

Races for mayor in Pittsburgh have been decided in the primary since the 1930s, when the last Republican held the seat. Four years ago Gainey unseated sitting Democrat Mayor Bill Peduto.

In conversations with several current and former elected Democrats, all of them said they have taken donations from Republicans for years.

Gainey held a press conference at a North Side thrift shop to address the Guardian story, saying, “There is one place I didn’t expect to have to defend the MAGA assault, and that was in the primary race, but unfortunately, this is exactly where we are at. Trump’s MAGA donors, his consultants, and his corporate interests are trying to buy the mayor’s office by attacking me just like they attacked Kamala Harris.”

Gainey, a former state representative, has struggled in his role as mayor. He has taken heat for his lack of leadership on simple things like getting the snow plows out during winter storms, to harder issues like crime, homelessness, and economic growth in a city whose business district has all the markings of a ghost town.

In a private poll taken two weeks ago, a clear majority of Pittsburgh Democrats (55% to 32%) favored O’Connor over Gainey with 14% undecided.

The survey also showed that a majority believe the city of Pittsburgh is on the wrong track under his leadership.

In reaction to Hallam’s tweet, local radio host Colin Dunlap admonished her for making the donations about race when clearly Gainey was taking more money from MAGA Republicans than O’Connor. More importantly, Dunlap said Gainey was losing because the city has been run to the ground since he took office. “Keep telling yourself it is about skin color,” Dunlap said.

The convoluted accusation started to gain national attention when the Intercept ran a similar story to the Guardian, noting, “Now that Republicans have won control of government in Washington they’re shifting their sights to a progressive enclave in Pennsylvania.”

Then anti-gun activist Shannon Watts posted on X, “NEW: Trump’s advisors and donors are meddling in a Democratic primary to oust Pittsburgh’s first black mayor, Ed Gainey. This is a foreshadowing of what’s to come for incumbent Democratic mayors — especially black and brown mayors.”

Local elected Democrats, some allies of Gainey, some not, rolled their eyes at the donor stories.

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One of those Democrats, who does not live in the city so he has no skin in the game, said, “No, Donald Trump is not trying to come here and take Gainey’s job away from him. Gainey himself took donations from MAGA donors.”

“As for why Gainey is losing in the polling, sadly it has to do with his performance and what the city looks like, none of this has to do with race,” he added.