Emily Kinkead leads incumbent state Rep. Adam Ravenstahl in primary challenge

Pittsburgh attorney Emily Kinkead led incumbent state Rep. Adam Ravenstahl early Wednesday in a Democratic primary race for state House, according to unofficial election returns.

As of 6 a.m., Kinkead had collected 53% of the votes counted, while Ravenstahl had 47%, the unofficial tallies showed.

Allegheny County officials were continuing to count ballots early Wednesday, and more votes could be counted over the next week.

Gov. Tom Wolf issued an executive order Monday extending the deadline for Allegheny and five other counties to receive mail-in and absentee ballots by mail. They will be accepted through 5 p.m. June 9, as long as they were postmarked by June 2.

Ravenstahl, the brother of former Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, has represented the 20th State House District since 2010. It includes part of Pittsburgh and the suburbs of Avalon, Bellevue, Ross and West View.

“The results are really encouraging,” Kinkead, 32, of Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood, said in a phone interview.

“The coronavirus pandemic has definitely made this a very incumbent-friendly year to run. The results we’re seeing speak volumes for people’s desire for change in the 20th District,” she added.

Kinkead is looking to join a group of progressive Democratic women who have knocked off entrenched incumbents. The group includes state Rep. Summer Lee of Braddock, who defeated former state Rep. Paul Costa of Wilkins in the 2018 Democratic primary, and state Rep. Sara Innamorato of Lawrenceville, who beat Costa’s cousin, former state Rep. Dom Costa, in the same primary.