Iovino concedes to Robinson in race for 37th District state Senate seat

State Sen. Pam Iovino has conceded her bid for reelection as the 37th District representative to Republican challenger Devlin Robinson of Bridgeville.

Iovino was seeking a full term in office after winning the seat in a 2019 special election to fill the vacancy created when Guy Reschenthaler was elected to Congress. She ran unopposed in the spring Democratic primary.

“We fought the good fight, but it looks like there are not enough votes remaining for us to get the result we were hoping for in this election,” Iovino said in a social media posting Friday afternoon.

“I just spoke with Devlin Robinson to congratulate him on winning the election to serve as our next state senator,” she said. “I promised him my cooperation in this transition, and we both are committed to making sure that the people of the 37th District have the best representation possible.”

Iovino is one of only three Democrats to represent the district in the past 50 years.

The Senate district comprises much of Allegheny County’s southern and western suburbs, including Bethel Park, South Park, Mt. Lebanon, Bridge­ville, Moon, Upper St. Clair, Sewickley and Jefferson Hills, as well as Peters Township in Washington County.

“I want to thank my fellow veteran, Sen. Pam Iovino, for a lifetime of service to our nation and our state,” Robinson said in a statement to the Trib.

“While our politics and paths are different, we have always shared the same destination: a better, more vibrant and prosperous region. Please know that I intend to represent every citizen of this district and be a voice for all sides,” he said.

Robinson and Iovino are both accomplished military veterans.

Robinson received 77,855 votes, or 51.3%, of the 151,764 ballots cast. Iovino got 73,783 votes, or 48.62%.

There were 126 write-in votes.

Turnout in the 37th District, which has 198,470 registered voters, was 77.78% — higher than in Allegheny County, where 71.82% of the 942,849 registered voters went to the polls or cast ballots by mail.

Robinson, 37, defeated Jeff Neff for the GOP nomination in the spring primary.

He was raised in the city’s Brookline neighborhood and graduated in 2001 from Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School.

Following graduation, he continued a four-generation family tradition and joined the Marine Corps.

He went on to serve three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His unit was part of the April 2003 rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, an Army soldier taken prisoner of war in Iraq.

After his discharge from the military, Robinson founded a surgical equipment supply company called Veterans Medical Technology.

He holds a business degree from Robert Morris University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School.