After Announcing Run For Mayor, Ed Gainey Says If Peduto Failed To Deliver In 8 Years, He Doesn't Deserve Another 4
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Mayor Bill Peduto's run for a third term as mayor of Pittsburgh is being challenged by a local state representative.
In an exclusive interview with KDKA political editor Jon Delano, state Rep. Ed Gainey said that if Peduto couldn't get the job done in eight years, he doesn't deserve another four years.
In four months, Pittsburgh Democrats will choose their nominee for mayor of Pittsburgh. Last week, Peduto announced his candidacy. This Saturday, he will get a major challenger in Gainey.
"There's no question when you look at the economic disparity, there's a problem – the racial disparity, it's a problem. The housing disparity, it's a problem," Gainey told KDKA political editor Jon Delano.
"And if you haven't done it in eight years, you're not going to do it in the next four. So at the end of the day, that's why I'm running for mayor," Gainey added.
Gainey, who says he's more liberal than Mayor Peduto but not a Democratic socialist, implies the mayor talks a good game but hasn't delivered.
"It's more than just talking about what we need to do. It's about how we execute to get it done. We can talk about it all day, but I don't want to talk about it. I want to do it," Gainey said.
Now in his fifth term in the state Legislature, Gainey is a life-long Pittsburgher.
"I went to Holy Rosary, two years at Central Catholic, graduated from Peabody High School and got a bachelor's degree from Morgan State University," Gainey said.
Gainey was asked if the mayor spends too much time traveling outside the city.
"What the administration does is what they do. My job is going to be staying right here in the city of Pittsburgh and working every day to make this city better. Presence is powerful. When you are present, people feel you. People got to know that you care, and that's being there," says Gainey.
And Gainey says it doesn't matter your race, ethnicity or ideology. Pittsburghers all want the same thing.
"All of them want good neighborhoods. All of them want access to growth. All want good health outcomes, and all want a positive education experience," Gainey said.
The primary is May 18.
