Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher announced Tuesday she will not seek reelection.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to not run for a third term as county commissioner,” Thrasher said in a news release issued Tuesday night. “I truly enjoyed my time as county commissioner, it afforded me the opportunity to meet thousands of Westmoreland County residents and be their voice. It was an honor representing them and I thank them for their trust in me over the last eight years.”

Reached for further comment after releasing her statement, Thrasher said she had nothing more to add.

Thrasher returned to work earlier this month following a three-month maternity leave after she gave birth to her first child in November.

Last fall in an interview with the Tribune-Review, she said she intended to run for reelection and continued to raise money for that effort in 2022.

According to campaign financial records on file at the courthouse she had more than $70,000 in the bank for her reelection effort.

Westmoreland County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Michelle McFall said party officials were surprised by Thrasher’s announcement.

“We were circulating petitions for her, and our plan was for Ted (Kopas) and Gina to take it to the end, McFall said. “This creates a leadership vacuum in the county.”

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Kopas, who served a decade in office until his ouster in 2019, announced earlier this month he is again running for county commissioner.

Candidates seeking a spot on the Democratic spring primary ballot have until March 7 to collect signatures and file nominating petitions.

No other Democrats have announced their candidacy for county commissioner.

Thrasher swept into office as the top vote-getter in 2015 following her first bid for county office. She had worked as a communications director for the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland.

She and the then-incumbent Kopas reclaimed a majority for Democrats on the three-member board of commissioners after Republicans seized power at the courthouse four years earlier for the first time in a half century.

But the Republicans reclaimed the majority four years later. Thrasher defeated Kopas by about 200 votes to win the board’s minority seat.

During three years as minority commissioner, Thrasher carved out a role as the lone elected Democrat among county and state office holders.

“I am proud of the work that I have accomplished with my colleagues over the years. Elected officials in Washington, D.C. are always in gridlock. However, that is not the case in County government in Westmoreland,” Thrasher said.

During her time office, she also graduated from law school and worked part time with a Pittsburgh law firm.

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