Zappala wins seventh term as Allegheny County district attorney

In a surprising hold on institutional power, Stephen Zappala won the race for Allegheny County district attorney on Tuesday, getting electoral revenge on the reform-minded public defender who beat him in the Democratic primary earlier this year.

Shortly before 11 p.m., Zappala was up by about 11,000 votes over Democrat Matt Dugan with more than 99% of precincts counted. There did not appear to be enough votes remaining for Dugan to overcome the significant gap.

Zappala ran as a Republican in the general election, mounting a successful write-in campaign despite losing to Dugan in his party’s primary. He ultimately remained in power Tuesday, winning his seventh term in an office he’s held for more than 25 years.

Dugan, who ran as a reformist focused on cutting down on recidivism and playing a more active role in preventing crime, was seen as a forward-thinking repairman to an office that hasn’t changed hands since Bill Clinton was president.

With the win, Zappala continues as the county’s chief law enforcement officer and will serve at least another four years. En route to victory, he told voters that Dugan didn’t “understand the job” of district attorney, “which makes sense given Dugan has spent his entire career fighting to keep the people I prosecute out on the street,” he said recently.

Dugan criticized Zappala in response — “A change in leadership is desperately needed,” he said — but it ultimately wasn’t enough to convince voters that a change in guard was necessary.

Zappala, of Fox Chapel, touts a long list of achievements through his office; during his tenure, he implemented diversionary court programs to give first-time offenders a second chance and introduced technology to police departments across the county including body-worn cameras and car dash cameras, his office says.

The last time he faced a general election challenger, he won with 59% of the vote, beating Turahn Jenkins, a former chief deputy director for the county’s public defender’s office.

That’s what made Dugan’s upset of Zappala so surprising in May. But he did so by convincing Democrats that they weren’t going to get anything different with a seventh Zappala term, and by boasting the endorsements of the county Democratic Party, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale.

“Voters were really embracing our calls for reform, our calls for safely and responsibly diverting low-level folks out of the criminal justice system, so we can focus on the prosecution of violent crime when it does occur,” Dugan said when he won in May.

Zappala ended up winning nearly 12,000 Republican write-in votes, though, and accepted the party’s endorsement soon after. He had won some of the more institutional Democrat-affiliated backing, including from the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council.

Dugan entered the general election race by offering bold policy proposals and specific reforms. He insisted that the district attorney’s office partner with the city of Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County executive and police departments to “develop a holistic approach to stop neighborhood violence,” according to his website.

Dugan also pledged to work to divert low-level, nonviolent cases into mental health and substance abuse treatment options — when appropriate — and said his office wouldn’t stack charges as a plea negotiation tool. He also said he’d work to advocate against cash bail.

A 16-year veteran of the county public defender’s office, Dugan actually won the endorsement of a group of former county prosecutors who had served under Zappala.

“Mr. Dugan’s prior experience as Chief Public Defender will serve as an asset that will inform his ability to implement safety-minded reforms. Quite simply, no one understands our local criminal justice system better than Mr. Dugan,” the former prosecutors wrote in a letter in late October.

Once the race result became clear shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday, Dugan addressed dozens of supporters at Riley’s Pour House in Carnegie, declaring, “I don’t plan on going away.” 

 Surrounded by his wife and three sons, Dugan said he was “proud that we talked about the issues specific to Allegheny County from day one and that we offered solutions specific to Allegheny County from day one.” 

 After thanking those who helped his campaign, he made his way through the crowd, hugging and shaking hands with friends and supporters, and then told reporters, “I don’t know what my next stop is going to be, but I can tell you this: I care deeply about criminal justice, I care deeply about Allegheny County, and there’s a space for me out there somewhere. I’ll tackle that tomorrow.”

Union Progress writer Steve Mellon contributed.