State Sen. Jim Brewster retiring at end of 2024

A Mon Valley political fixture is stepping down from his state Senate seat, but he insists it won’t lead to a sea change in his district.

State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, said Wednesday that he is retiring at the end of this year. He will not seek reelection.

Brewster serves Pennsylvania’s 45th State Senatorial District, which covers Allegheny County’s Mon Valley, as well as eastern and southern suburbs such as Plum, Monroeville, Brentwood, Baldwin, and Castle Shannon.

He said after 14 years in the state Senate, he is ready to move his career outside the scope of the state legislature.

“It is time to explore other options and take on new challenges,” said Brewster, noting local work he wants to accomplish on combating addiction and helping complete the Mon-Fayette highway extension.

Brewster, 75, has been involved in government for over three decades, all centered around his hometown of McKeesport. He served on McKeesport Council for 10 years before being elected mayor of the Mon Valley city in 2003.

In 2010, he was elected state senator, a position he has held ever since.

He expressed some irritation at being in the minority in the chamber for his entire 14-year tenure. His retirement comes after an incredibly hard fought campaign in 2020 that saw a successful court challenge from Brewster and an extremely narrow victory over a Republican challenger.

In his last election in 2020, Brewster prevailed by just 69 votes out of 132,000 casts. The outcome hinged on a court decision on mail-in ballots, with the state Supreme Court siding with Brewster that certain mail-in ballots — which lacked written dates but were returned on time — should count.

Politically, Brewster believes the 45th District will remain in Democratic control, despite its recent close call.

He said redistricting changed the makeup of the district, however. Several conservative Westmoreland County communities were shifted to another district and replaced with more liberal suburban Allegheny County municipalities, said Brewster.

“I do expect the Democrats to hold onto this seat,” he said, adding that there should be several high-quality candidates announced soon. “I am optimistic about the people that are interested in taking over.”

Brewster said there are a lot of issues left unfinished in the Mon Valley, but he believes he can work on them better locally, than in Harrisburg.

“I still got a lot of gas in the tank,” he said.

Bipartisan achievements

Brewster said he was always willing to work with Republicans to pass bills, but said it was frustrating always being in the minority.

Republicans currently hold a 28-22 majority over Democrats in the state Senate, and Democrats have not controlled the chamber since 1992.

Brewster said that meant many of his bills would never see a vote.

“One of things that I wish I could have achieved was ensuring that every bill would go to the House and Senate floor, and face an up or down vote,” said Brewster.

Despite the gridlock, Brewster said he was proud to be a part of bipartisan coalition that passed Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law.

Initially a skeptic of the measure, he said he changed his mind after meeting with families with children suffering from seizures who had been forced out of state for medication. He said the state legislature’s response to their call is something he will remember.

“If you sit and listen to constituents telling you they have to go out of state, it is pretty hard to accept that fact, and not do something to help,” he said. “It was something that we did together.”

Since the bill’s signing in 2016, Brewster became a bigger advocate for cannabis, even pursuing the economic boost it could bring to the 45th District . He was proud to secure one of the 12 initial medical marijuana growing facilities in McKeesport.

In 2023, Brewster introduced a bill to give doctors more leeway to prescribe medical cannabis, which has been seen as a step toward passing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania.

He still wants to see marijuana decriminalized in the state, and said if the state does legalize recreational cannabis, that a large percentage of the revenue generated should go to addiction treatment.

Brewster said he regrets he couldn’t accomplish more for people suffering from addiction. He said street violence and substance addiction are intertwined, and that too many people are incarcerated when they need to be in addiction-treatment facilities.

Boosting safety, infrastructure

Though he worked as a banker for Mellon Bank before entering politics, Brewster said he is a bit of a teacher at heart. He said he has a degree in teaching and his three daughters teach.

Brewster praised the education funding increases that the state legislature passed under former Gov. Tom Wolf and Gov. Josh Shapiro , both Democrats.

He said keeping teachers and students safe was a big priority during his tenure. He said work he accomplished on the Senate’s School Safety and Security Committee ensured hundreds of millions of dollars were available for mental health counseling and to schools to prevent threats.

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, D-McKeesport, said Brewster was an early inspiration, and he shared a passion for safety and tackling gun violence.

“As I started to speak up about the issue of gun violence in my hometown of McKeesport, then-Mayor Brewster encouraged me to organize with other young people and take action,” Davis said. “He made me feel like my voice mattered.”

State Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, praised Brewster for his dedication to funding infrastructure.

“Jim is a man of deep integrity, passion, and excellence, and his legacy will be one of profound love of his hometown,” Costa said. “It’s been an honor to serve alongside him.”

Even though he will be leaving office at the end of this year, Brewster said he is committed to seeing the Mon-Fayette Expressway extension completed, and connecting Jefferson Hills to I-376 in eastern Allegheny County.

The toll road currently runs 54 miles from I-68 near Morgantown to Jefferson Hills. Construction is underway to extend the expressway eight miles, from Route 51 to Route 837 in Duquesne.

Brewster said he has been advocating for this road since he was a McKeesport councilman.

He said it’s imperative for the Mon Valley and regional economy. He said Mon Valley towns will benefit from an expressway entering a hard to access region, and outlying counties will benefit since the Mon-Fayette will connect I-376 to the Southern Beltway and beyond.

He said helping to finish the Mon-Fayette will be a major focus on his retirement.

“You need four things in local government here: You need the river, the rails, the airport and the local roadways,” Brewster said. “If we don’t have adequate infrastructure, we can’t compete with other states. And we can’t really build a new river.”