Zappala sworn in as Allegheny County DA for 7th term

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. was sworn in Thursday to his seventh term in office.

It was a notable achievement for Zappala, the Democrat who won only by running on the Republican ticket after he lost both the endorsement by his party and the primary.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Todd administered the oath of office in the court’s ornate chambers in Downtown Pittsburgh. Zappala, 66, of Fox Chapel, raised his hand to be sworn in with his wife, Mary, at his side.

Zappala defeated Matt Dugan, the county’s former chief public defender, by more than 3 percentage points after a bruising battle that pitted the traditional law-and-order incumbent against a progressive challenger.

The 44-year-old from Moon advocated eliminating cash bail, lowering incarceration rates and seeking ways other than criminal convictions to address low-level, nonviolent crimes driven by poverty, mental illness and drug addiction.

Aided by high-profile Republicans, including former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, Zappala cobbled together a winning coalition to extend his 25-year tenure.

He ran a sharp-edged attack campaign, vilifying Dugan and warning voters that if the public defender were elected, crime would soar. He and his surrogates also took aim at the financing of Dugan’s campaign, which drew largely from more than $1 million of in-kind contributions from liberal billionaire George Soros, whose political action committees have funded numerous campaigns by progressive prosecutors throughout the country.

Corbett attended the swearing-in ceremony, as did state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield.