Allegheny County Democrat Erin McClelland bested state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro in Tuesday's Democratic primary for state treasurer. She will now face Stacy Garrity, the Republican incumbent, this fall.
Treasurer is one of three of Pennsylvania's executive level offices that will appear on the November ballot; the other two are state attorney general and state auditor general.
Along with attorney general candidate Eugene DePasquale, McClelland is Allegheny County’s other contender in the statewide ballot this spring — but her rival lives just a couple of hours up Interstate 79.
State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro has represented Erie in the state House for more than a decade and has garnered the endorsement of the state Democratic Party. McClelland is a mental health and substance abuse counselor who worked as a contractor for Allegheny County. She has previously run unsuccessful campaigns for Allegheny County executive and Congress, twice winning the party’s nomination but losing to the Republican incumbent.
Both have criticized incumbent Garrity for factors that include her close ties to Donald Trump. But their own primary battle was contentious, involving questions about McClelland’s campaign finance reports and Bizzarro’s decade-old support for a bill that would prevent state insurance exchanges from covering most abortions.
