Special elections to determine Harrisburg replacements for Mayor Ed Gainey, Jake Wheatley
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Two special election races Tuesday will determine who replaces new Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and his chief of staff, Jake Wheatley, in the state legislature.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the 19th and 24th legislative districts. Absentee and mail-in ballots must be returned by 8 p.m.
Precanvassing of absentee and mail-in ballots will start at 7 a.m. at the Elections Warehouse on the North Side, with workers inspecting and counting the ballots but not officially recording them.
Social worker and community activist Aerion Abney is the Democratic nominee to finish out Wheatley’s term in the 19th Legislative District. No Republican will appear on the ballot.
In the 24th Legislative District, Martell Covington, an aide to state Sen. Jay Costa, earned the Democratic nomination to replace Gainey. Todd Elliott Koger will appear on the ballot as the Republican nominee in the heavily Democratic district.
The special elections will determine who finishes out the two terms that run through the end of the year. Both candidates will have to run again in the upcoming May primary, when the districts will look slightly different because of redistricting, to stay in office for a full term.
The special elections were scheduled on different dates from the May 17 primary to avoid confusion about redistricted maps, officials said.
The 19th Legislative District contains 86 precincts, all within the city of Pittsburgh. There are about 43,000 registered voters in the district.
The 24th Legislative District has 90 precincts — 73 in Pittsburgh and all 17 precincts in neighboring Wilkinsburg. There are about 50,000 registered voters in the district.