Carrie Lewis DelRosso, who ran for lieutenant governor as part of a Republican statewide ticket that lost decisively in last month’s election, announced Wednesday she will not seek her party’s nomination for an open state House seat in the Pittsburgh suburbs.
Democratic Rep. Anthony DeLuca had represented the 32nd District — composed of Penn Hills, Oakmont, Verona and parts of Plum — for nearly 40 years. His death in October, following a brief battle with lymphoma, meant it was too late to remove him from the Nov. 8 ballot, and DeLuca posthumously won reelection.
Under state law, local political party leaders select their nominees for special elections. Democrats picked Joe McAndrew, who chairs the Penn Hills Democratic Committee, from a field of eight candidates. Republicans will meet Saturday to pick their nominee.
Three special elections, all in Allegheny County and set for Feb. 7, will decide which party controls the 203-seat state House. The two other open seats are the 34th District, centered on Braddock and other towns just east of Pittsburgh, formerly represented by U.S. Rep.-elect Summer Lee; and the 35th District, based in McKeesport and the Mon Valley, last held by Lt. Gov.-elect Austin Davis.
Democrats need to win all three races to control the state House for the first time in more than a decade, while Republicans need just one of them.
DelRosso would have likely faced a steep climb in a quest to represent the heavily Democratic 32nd District. She and her running mate, far-right state Sen. Doug Mastriano, lost the district by 43 points in last month’s gubernatorial election and won just one of its 68 precincts.
In a Facebook post, DelRosso said she came to her decision following “much consideration and many discussions with my family and colleagues.”
“While I am humbled by the outpouring of support I have received, and I feel I am highly qualified and have the most experience for the position, it’s not the right time for me to run,” she said. “I will work to support the Republican Party nominee selected by the party and hope whomever is selected can serve the people and represent them in Harrisburg.”
DelRosso, who runs a local public relations firm, has risen quickly through Republican ranks. While serving her first term on Oakmont Borough Council, she scored a massive upset in 2020 by unseating then-Democratic leader Frank Dermody by 938 votes in the 33rd District. She then ran in this year’s Republican primary for lieutenant governor, after the once-a-decade process of redistricting put her hometown in the new 32nd District.
Jon, a copy editor and reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and working as a co-editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Reach him at jmoss@unionprogress.com.
