Benham, Kinkead criticize Allegheny Democratic committee after failing to win endorsements

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee traditionally endorsed incumbents seeking reelection when it gathered for its annual spring endorsement meeting.

But the committee has veered from that norm in recent years, starting in 2020 when the committee did not endorse state Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, an outspoken progressive lawmaker who had ousted a longtime incumbent two years earlier.

On March 27, Lee was passed over again by the committee, along with two other women with progressive voting records: state Reps. Jessica Benham, D-South Side, and Emily Kinkead, D-Brighton Heights.

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee is made up of thousands of members, who are either elected to four-year terms or appointed by high-ranking committee officials. Only committee members who occupy seats within their districts are allowed to vote.

Endorsed candidates get their names printed on slate cards that are distributed by the committee to registered Democrats across Allegheny County, and the committee also can send out volunteers to promote the endorsed candidates in door-to-door campaigns.

At the March 27 committee meeting, Lee lost her endorsement bid in the 34th Legislative District to Swissvale Council President Abigail Salisbury on a 57-45 vote. Lee also is running for Congress in the 12th District, and Pittsburgh attorney Steve Irwin earned the committee’s endorsement over her in a 323-260 vote.

Former Brentwood Councilwoman Stephanie Fox received the party’s endorsement over Benham in a 34-24 committee vote in the 36th Legislative District, while Nick Mastros of Ross defeated Kinkead in a 52-18 vote in the 20th Legislative District. Mastros owns and operates the Allegheny Sandwich Shoppe on Pittsburgh’s North Side.

Benham and Kinkead said they turned their endorsement snubs into opportunity, using them to help raise campaign donations in the days after the meeting. Both said they raised more than enough to cover the $1,500 fee required to seek the committee’s endorsement.

“It truly says something about the state of the Allegheny County Democratic Party that it is better for candidates’ fundraising to lose the endorsement than to win it,” said Benham.

Neither Benham nor Kinkead offered exact figures for how much they have raised since the endorsement meeting.

Kinkead raised $14,293 between Jan. 1 and March 21 and had more than $21,000 cash on hand, according to the most recent state campaign finance report. The Department of State showed Benham raised $8,819 between Nov. 11 and Dec. 31, 2021, the most recent period available, and had more than $26,000 cash on hand.

Campaign finance reports have not yet been made public for Fox and Mastros.

In addition to raising more than the endorsement fee since Sunday’s meeting, Kinkead said her campaign brought in more than two dozen new donors that had not donated before. She said she is grateful for the new support.

Kinkead, 34, said she expected to miss out on this year’s endorsement, noting that her primary opponent Mastros has deep ties to the Allegheny County Democratic Committee. His wife sits on the Ross committee.

Kinkead said she thinks Sunday’s endorsement results show that the local Democratic committee is out of touch with the local Democratic electorate.

She said she thinks many committee members are not “catching up with the times” and following the Democratic electorate, which is increasingly voting for women and people of color.

“It is the same kind of politics that has shut out people like (Lee), people like me, and people like (Benham),” Kinkead said. “The Democratic electorate is not condoning that, but the committee is.”

Democratic Committee Chair Eileen Kelly defended the endorsement process and noted that Benham and Kinkead have criticized the committee in the past, adding the “committee is not the problem.”

She said Benham and Kinkead had two years to get to know the committee members better, and earn their votes.

Kelly said this year the committee endorsed progressive lawmakers such as Sara Innamorato and Lindsey Williams, though neither had Democratic challengers. Kelly added that progressive candidate Mandy Steele also picked up an endorsement in her 33th Legislative District race against Tristan McClelland.

“I get tired of people that don’t win the endorsement, and then attack the committee,” Kelly said. “They have to look in the mirror and see what they are doing wrong. Period.”

Fox said she worked hard for her endorsement and said Benham’s reaction to losing the endorsement that she sought was insulting to committee members and voters.

“I made phone calls, I knocked on their doors, I attended events and I made my case on why I could be a better state representative than Jessica Benham,” Fox said.

Mastros campaign manager Dan McClain described Kinkead’s criticism of the committee as sour grapes and denied any notion that the committee is bound to endorse incumbents. He said committee members endorsed Mastros because they were dissatisfied with Kinkead.

“After careful evaluation of the incumbent’s performance ─ or lack thereof ─ the Committee clearly demonstrated their belief that she has not done a good job, and that Nick Mastros would be the best choice to serve the interests of the residents of the 20th Legislative District,” he said.

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee is still recovering from some controversy in 2020, when committee members voted to endorse Heather Kass — a Democratic candidate who in the past posted support for Donald Trump on social media — over Benham. Local Democratic officials and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party condemned the committee, and Benham went on to win her race.

Kinkead noted that in her 2020 primary race, she won the Lawrenceville section of the district by an 80%-to-20% margin, but she only received one vote from Lawrenceville committee members at Sunday’s meeting.