Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus up big in bid for 2nd term

Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus held a commanding lead Tuesday night over Republican challenger Brian Weismantle and appeared on his way to a second term in office.

As of 10:30 p.m., with 73% of precincts reporting unofficial results and about 115,000 mail-in ballots counted, Kraus, a Democrat, had collected 73.9% of the votes tallied compared with Weismantle’s 26%.

Kraus and Weismantle did not immediately return messages Tuesday night.

Kraus, 56, of Ohio Township, joined the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in 1993 and worked there until 2014, retiring as a lieutenant. He then became second-in-command in the sheriff’s office under former Sheriff William P. Mullen Jr.

He did not face a challenger in the November 2021 election en route to winning his first term in office.

In campaigning for another term, Kraus pointed to his experience running the $24 million, 177-deputy office and success in expanding programs like gun-license events, food drives and unused medication pickups.

“I’m running this campaign on the platform of my record, experience, my integrity and my leadership,” Kraus told TribLive before the election.

Weismantle, 59, of Pittsburgh’s North Side, is also a retired Pittsburgh police officer. He tenure included serving more than 18 years as a homicide detective. Since retiring in 2015, he has worked as a private investigator.

During the campaign, Weismantle was critical of Kraus’ management of the sheriff’s office and his handling of certain high-profile incidents, including a six-hour standoff in August 2023 in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood that ended with a gunman’s death and an estimated 900 rounds being fired during the incident. Kraus said Weismantle’s criticism of that incident “lacks credibility and substance.”