Chris Potter
Government & Accountability EditorNearly three decades after leaving home for college, Chris Potter now lives four miles from the house he grew up in -- a testament either to the charm of the South Hills or to a simple lack of ambition. In the intervening years, Potter held a variety of jobs, including asbestos abatement engineer and ice-cream truck driver. He has also worked for a number of local media outlets, only some of which then went out of business. After serving as the editor of Pittsburgh City Paper for a decade, he covered politics and government at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He has won some awards during the course of his quarter-century journalistic career, but then even a blind squirrel sometimes digs up an acorn.
And yes, that is his real hair.
He can be reached at 412-930-8006 or at cpotter@wesa.fm.
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U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s greatest political gift may be his ability to get journalists to pay attention to him. Whether that helps his party this year remains to be seen.
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As Congress clamps down on campus protests, Democrats Bob Casey and Summer Lee are on opposing sidesBy a vote of 320 to 91 Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would give educational institutions an expanded definition of antisemitism — an effort to address fears that criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza is mixing with hateful treatment of Jews.
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Lee's position on environmental issues has long been underscored by concerns that pollution hurts low-income communities most.
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Lessons from this week's primary, by WESA's Chris Potter.
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The son of a Vietnam veteran who later struggled with mental health and substance abuse and became an incarcerated felon, DePasquale stood out on the Democratic ballot as one of just two Allegheny County candidates running statewide.
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Allegheny County's Erin McClelland defeated state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro in Tuesday's Democratic primary for state treasurer. She will face incumbent Stacy Garrity this fall.
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State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta bested fellow Democrat Mark Pinsley on Tuesday to secure his party's nomination for Pennsylvania auditor general.
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In the race for Attorney General, Democrat Eugene DePasquale stands out as one of just two Allegheny County candidates running statewide. Democrats hope to topple Republican incumbents in the races for Auditor General and Treasurer.
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Voters in two state House districts east of Pittsburgh confirmed the incumbents largely chosen for them by party leaders a year ago.
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A changing of the guard is guaranteed this year in Allegheny County’s 45th Senate District — which has been held since 2010 by former McKeesport Mayor Jim Brewster — and in a House District that covers some of the same ground.