Allegheny County Democrats name interim executive director

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee has a new interim executive director.

Elizabeth Casertano, 25, of Shaler, will become the third person over the past year to head the organization. She replaces Steve Kochanowski who stepped down to devote more time to campaign work. Mark Salvas of Plum abruptly resigned last October amid allegations of racially insensitive Facebook posts.

“I’m truthfully very excited and I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Casertano said Wednesday. “I know that we have a lot of important elections coming up, and I’m ready to do everything I can to make sure we have qualified candidates elected to office.”

Casertano currently works as a project manager for Actual Size Creative, an East Liberty advertising and graphic design firm.

She managed political campaigns in 2017 for Allegheny County Sheriff Bill Mullen, who was re-elected, and Elliot Howsie. Howsie, who served as the county’s chief public defender, was appointed in May as an Allegheny County judge in to fill a vacant position created by the retirement of Judge Donna Jo McDaniel.

Casertano grew up in Shaler and graduated from Penn State University with a degree in political science.

Eileen Kelly, who chairs the Democratic committee, said she heard good things about Casertano from committee members during the Mullen and Howsie campaigns.

“I got so much feedback at the time about how good she was and what an excellent campaign person she was,” Kelly said. “She’s got great talent, and I think she’s going to work out perfectly.”