Khari Mosley announces candidacy for Pittsburgh City Council

A staple of Pittsburgh campaign circles is throwing his own hat into the ring for a Pittsburgh City Council race in the city’s East End.

Khari Mosley is running for Pittsburgh City Council in District 9, which includes East Hills, East Liberty, Garfield, Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington, Stanton Heights and part of Point Breeze.

Pittsburgh City Councilman Ricky Burgess is the incumbent.

Mosley of Point Breeze is the political director for 1Hood Media, a nonprofit based in Pittsburgh that promotes arts, education and social justice with a focus on the region’s Black community. He also has experience working on political campaigns for Pittsburgh City Councilman Daniel Lavelle, Pittsburgh Public Schools Board Director Sala Udin and State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty.

He is married to Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Chelsa Wagner and worked as chief strategist for Wagner’s successful 2015 reelection campaign for Allegheny County Controller.

Mosley, who describes himself as a progressive, said he is running to guide Pittsburgh through what he sees as a transformational period for the city. He said the city’s politics are changing and candidates need to act bold and think big in response. Progressive politicians have seen much more success in the Steel City over the past few years, including the recent victory of Congresswoman-elect Summer Lee.

“I am running to restore faith in the idea that government can get the people’s business done, improve the quality of life in every neighborhood and inspire our citizens to believe that Pittsburgh’s best days are yet to come,” Mosley said.

The path to unseating Burgess may come with obstacles. In the past two Democratic primaries, Burgess has won his party’s nomination despite never receiving more than 50% of the vote. Opposition to Burgess has failed to coalesce behind one candidate, and instead several candidates have run against him and ended up splitting the vote.

Mosley hasn’t avoided controversy during his career. In 2019, Mosley and Wagner faced charges during an altercation at a Detroit hotel. Mosley was acquitted of misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace, and Wagner was partially acquitted and her remaining charges were later dismissed. Mosley and Wagner have criticized the charges made against them as retaliatory.