Philadelphia's Nina Ahmad Poised To Win Auditor General Democratic Nomination Over Pittsburgh's Michael Lamb
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's been almost a week since the Pennsylvania primary, and we still don't know the winner of the only contested statewide race.
For days, Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb was in the lead for the Democratic nomination for state Auditor General.
But now Nina Ahmad, an immigrant from Bangladesh, has pulled ahead of Lamb.
It's very close but Ahmad — a Muslim woman who earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and later became deputy mayor of Philadelphia — is now poised to become the Democratic Party's first woman of color to win the nomination for one of the state's top executive offices.
"I am a woman who is an immigrant to this country and who is deeply grateful to this country and Pennsylvania," Ahmad told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Monday.
The mother of two, Ahmad is a geneticist who believes her skills will help her audit government agencies as auditor general.
"I bring, as I said, a broad experience of being a scientist who looks at data and uses that to say that we can have a government that delivers for everyone," Ahmad said. "I deeply believe that we can have a government that takes care of our most vulnerable, that is not only compassionate but cost-efficient."
Ahmad is passionate about education and women's rights, having witnessed the treatment of women in Bangladesh's war for independence.
"Two hundred thousand women and girls were brutalized in that war by the genocidal army, and that has made me a firm advocate for women," Ahmad said. "I continue to do so. I serve on the National Organization for Women's board because that playing field is not level yet. Not just for women, but for many marginalized groups."
WATCH: Full Interview With Nina Ahmad
As of Monday afternoon, Ahmad is ahead of Lamb by just 1 percent, so it's not over yet.
But political experts say that a lot of uncounted votes are from the Philadelphia area, where Ahmad is strong.
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