Martell Covington wins District 24 nominating session, favored to finish out state House term

Martell Covington, a legislative aide to Democratic state Sen. Jay Costa, won the Democratic nomination to appear on an upcoming special election ballot for state House District 24.

Covington’s win at the Allegheny County Democratic Committee nominating session held at the Kingsley Center in Larimer on Saturday will likely secure him victory in the April 5 special election. The district is heavily Democratic and local Republicans are not nominating a candidate for the special election.

The special election is to fill out the rest of former state Rep. Ed Gainey’s term through the end of the year . Gainey vacated the seat shortly before being sworn in as Pittsburgh mayor.

Saturday’s vote was held between Democratic committee people who live within District 24, which includes many neighborhoods in Pittsburgh’s East End as well as Wilkinsburg.

Out of 169 eligible committee members who could vote, 101 cast votes for candidates and one committee member left their ballot blank. Turnout was at 60%.

Covington, of Homewood, received the most votes with 40.

La’Tasha Mayes, a reproductive rights advocate from Morningside, received the second most votes with 24.

Former Pittsburgh Public School Board member and housing activists Randall Taylor received 16 votes, and environmental justice organizer NaTisha Washington received 10. Nonprofit head Lamar Blackwell received six votes and longtime activist William Anderson got five .

The votes were counted one-by-one publicly inside the Kingsley Center, and Covington said his heart was pounding as they were counting. He said he was relieved at the result.

Covington was largely seen as the favorite to win, as he had arguably the deepest ties to committee members as vice president of the Young Democrats of Allegheny County.

“The landscape is changing, and you can’t take anything for granted,” said Covington. “I always respect my opponents.”

Candidates each had to pay $1,000 to the Democratic committee to be considered, which the committee says is to cover the costs of the event.

Gainey, who is also a Democratic committee member, attended and voted. He declined to say who he voted for, but said he was proud of all the candidates and the turnout.

“Everything about this district is a microcosm of Pittsburgh,” Gainey said.

Though Covington is likely to win the special election, that will only guarantee him a spot in Harrisburg through this year.

Candidates who hope to fill the new 24th District will run in the primary election, which is currently set for May. Finalized maps were submitted on Friday for state House districts, though court challengers are likely.

Either way, the new 24th District has slightly different boundaries than the current one, with the new district including many of the same East End neighborhoods, but also the parts of the Hill District.

Wilkinsburg is omitted from the new 24th District.

Five out of the six candidates, including Covington, said they are running in the primary election for the new 24th District. Washington, of Wilkinsburg, can’t run in the new 24th District, but said she might run for state House in the new 34th District, depending on the outcome of current state Rep. Summer Lee’s race for Congress.