Pair of accomplished veterans vying for District 37 state Senate seat

Voters in much of Allegheny County’s southern and western suburbs will be asked to choose between a pair of candidates with impeccable credentials running for the 37th District state Senate seat.

Incumbent Democrat Pam Iovino faces a challenge from Republican Devlin Robinson. Both are accomplished military veterans, highly educated and experienced.

The general election is Nov. 3.

The 37th District includes 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 McMurray and Peters in Washington County.

Before Iovino won the seat, only two other Democrats have represented the 37th district during the past 50 years.

Pam Iovino

Iovino, 64, of Mt. Lebanon defeated Republican D.Raja in a 2019 special election to fill the vacancy created when Guy Reschenthaler was elected to Congress. Iovino ran unopposed in the spring Democratic primary.

Iovino grew up in Whitehall and served in the Navy for 23 years, including tours as a missile maintenance officer, manpower analyst, network warfare program manager and commanding officer.

She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Gettysburg College and earned a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.

When she retired from the Navy as a captain, she was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the post of assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Before her election to the state Senate, she served as director of Veterans Services for Allegheny County.

Iovino said the things that resonate most with the people she meets in the district are her public service and bipartisan approach.

“As a lifelong public servant, I’ve learned how to work together with others to get things done,” she said. “I did it as a presidential appointee and working at the local level as director of veterans service for Allegheny County.”

She said the federal Veterans Affairs appointment by a Republican president “points to my understanding of bipartisanship,” which she said is essential to making policy.

“It’s about getting all the right stakeholders around the table to solve problems and find solutions,” she said. “And it’s about working together with all those people the following day because everybody doesn’t walk away from the table with everything they want. Sometimes it’s equally important to communicate and keep relationships intact.”

Iovino said the “foundation for success” is education, and the state is in a position to enact “moderate and sensible” reforms to improve the quality of education students receive across the state.

“We want every American, every Pennsylvanian, every child to have an equal opportunity to reach their potential,” she said. “But in many ways, this pandemic has exposed the inequality and disparity that exists.”

Iovino said one way the state can rectify the disparities is to shift the way schools are funded.

“We need to get away from the burden of funding our schools with real estate property taxes,” she said, noting that the quality of public schools often is determined by the wealth of the community in which it is located.

Iovino said her emphasis in the Legislature will continue to be on protecting the federal Affordable Care Act, which “is most at risk with a possible shift in the (U.S. Supreme) court.”

She has backed or sponsored Senate bills “so we won’t go backward and lose health care,” she said. The bills would require insurers in the state to follow many of the ACA’s provisions, such as providing coverage for preexisting conditions and offering preventative care.

Iovino said her appointment as the Democrat chair of the Senate’s Emergency Preparedness Committee has allowed her to advocate for measures that improve coordination of veteran services across the state and ensure that members of the state’s National Guard receive full compensation for lost wages if they get sick while being deployed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Details about Iovino’s position on a range of issues are available on her website.

Devlin Robinson

Robinson, 37, of Bridgeville, pulled in 58.1% of the votes cast in the Republican primary to defeat Jeff Neff for the party nomination.

Robinson 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. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., Robinson asked to be assigned to the infantry and served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His unit was responsible for the 2003 rescue of Army prisoner of war Jessica Lynch.

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 masters’ degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School.

Robinson said his experience as a business owner “who knows what it’s like to meet a budget would be beneficial in Harrisburg.”

“What happens there truly affects businesses across the state,” he said, noting the strain the governor’s shutdown orders have caused on commerce. “Businesses are the ones that have been impacted the most by the order. I’ll be an independent voice who is going to take their concerns to Harrisburg without being beholden to the insiders.”

Robinson said he would “absolutely” fight any effort to increase “job-crushing taxes” and regulatory overreach that slows development. Among the taxes that need the most protection are the levies placed on sales and income.

Issues such as reforming the state’s underfunded public employee’s pension fund by providing benefits to future employees that more closely resembles those available in the private sector also will be part of Robinson’s focus if elected.

Tied to his economic policies is promoting the state’s burgeoning natural gas industry — so long as it is done safely.

“I don’t believe in taking a hands-off approach when it comes to protecting the water and air,” he said. “Drilling can be done safely and effectively, but we have to make sure that the gas companies are being managed properly.”

Robinson said the value of good schools can’t be overstated, and he will push to ensure that the district’s schools are fully funded.

But he also thinks parents should have more education options.

“I believe in school choice,” he said. “I think that if a parent wants to send their child to private schools, they should be able to apply for a tax break to do it.”

At the core of Robinson’s bid for office is promoting family values, which he sees as a responsibility to help people “put food on the table and send their kids to school.”

“We’re not doing that right now by overreacting to the pandemic,” he said. “I’m in favor of opening things up when you can do the job and still maintain distances so we can try to minimize the impact on the economy and our families.

“Small business owners know their clientele and are in the best position to mitigate the risk of spreading the infection,” he said.

Additional information about Robinson’s positions on a variety of issues are available on his campaign website.