Dugan knocks off longtime incumbent Zappala in Democratic race for Allegheny County DA

Allegheny County Chief Public Defender Matt Dugan knocked off longtime District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary race for DA, unofficial tallies showed.

But it might not be the last time the candidates face each other.

With nearly 168,000 votes tallied and 98% of precincts reporting results, Dugan had collected about 55.6% of the votes counted compared to 44.3% for Zappala, according to the Allegheny County Elections Division. Dugan led by nearly 19,000 votes just before 11 p.m.

“This administration is going to be one of transparency and openness, and we want to have open dialogue with folks. We’re going to work with everybody. We look forward to working with all folks in Allegheny County,” Dugan said before appearing at an election night event at the North Shore’s The Foundry Table & Tap.

Dugan, 43, of Moon, said he wanted to work to “direct resources to communities most impacted by gun violence (and) invest in strategies for prevention — not just be responsive to acts of violence when they occur, but try to get ahead of them.”

While Zappala appeared ready to accept the Democratic defeat, he wasn’t ready to abandon the race.

“The Republican Party has decided to make me their nominee. I don’t know what’s going to happen on the Democratic side. I don’t think we can overcome the deficit we have right now,” Zappala said at an event at Cupka’s Cafe II in Pittsburgh’s South Side.

Zappala said Dugan “put a lot of money into the campaign” and was well organized.

“I apologize to my friends and supporters that we didn’t have a stronger showing this evening, but if we stick around to November, we’re going to kick some ass and take some names,” he said.

Earlier this month, Allegheny County GOP Chairman Sam DeMarco encouraged Republican voters to write-in Zappala on their ballots to place him on the Republican ticket for the November election. This followed similar efforts in April from a local Republican committee.

During the campaign, Zappala defended his quarter-century record as district attorney, while Dugan’s reform-minded campaign received a boost from national groups looking to take down Zappala.

Dugan had said the DA should help divert low-level offenders — especially those with substance abuse or mental health issues — to community services so resources can be freed up to more aggressively prosecute violent crimes. He believes that message helped him secure the county Democratic Party’s endorsement, as well as support from various criminal justice groups.

Zappala, 66, of Fox Chapel, said his efforts as DA had increased public safety and police accountability, including increased body camera usage by police officers.

Homicide rates teetered up and down for a decade before 2019, when Allegheny County recorded 93 homicides. Then, between 2019 and 2022, homicides increased by 31%, according to county data. Last year, Allegheny County saw 122 homicides, the most of any year since 2007.

Dugan said Zappala’s strategies aren’t helping to reduce violent crime. He said that a district attorney should be good at working with city governments, violence prevention groups and community members to create better resources for low-level offenders.

The Zappala campaign touted his record on abortion and LGTBQ rights. Campaign spokesman Mike Mikus said Zappala would not prosecute abortions in Allegheny County if state or federal law made them illegal — something that is unlikely to occur while Democrats control the White House and Pennsylvania governor’s mansion.

Campaign finance reports showed Zappala had outraised Dugan this year. Zappala pulled in $227,000 through May 5 compared to $77,000 for Dugan, filings showed.

While considered in-kind contributions, not money being contributed directly to Dugan’s campaign, the Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety political action committee had spent $760,000 on ads supporting Dugan, records showed.

The group funds criminal justice reform candidates and is financed largely by liberal billionaire George Soros.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania also got involved in the race, sending out about 65,000 mailers and knocking on more than 50,000 doors in Allegheny County to talk about the race. The ACLU’s Danitra Sherman said the organization got involved because of racial disparities in the county’s criminal justice system.

A 2020 report found that 67% of incarcerated people at the Allegheny County Jail were Black, even though Allegheny County’s population at the time was less than 13% Black.