Election Day dispatches: live updates on what's happening in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County
May 20, 2025 at 6:30 AM EDT
8:15 p.m. First results appear
The first batch of county election results appeared just moments after polls closed at 8 p.m. The results showed O'Connor leading with 11,474 votes to Gainey's 6,268 — a split of roughly 64.5% to 35.2%.
That's a good early jump for O'Connor, but Gainey underperformed among mail-in voters when he beat then-Mayor Bill Peduto four years ago. In that contest, Gainey earned 36% of the mail-in ballots to Peduto's 53%. (Two other candidates split the remaining votes between them.) Gainey is on par with his mail-in performance, and in 2021 he spend the rest of the evening eating into Peduto's lead by racking up more votes cast in-person. On the other hand, the numbers suggest that the anti-incumbent votes that Gainey had to split four years ago might be unifying behind O'Connor tonight.
Find live election results here.
5:30 p.m. County processes nearly 80,000 mail ballots
Even before private-sector workers were packing up for the end of the day, county elections staff had finished the job of scanning the 77.995 mail-in ballots that they had received at the county's
North Side election warehouse by this afternoon. Most of those employees have been sent home for the day, though workers will keep an eye out for any final ballots that reach the post-office by 8 p.m. this evening.
Voters can still bring uncompleted mail-in ballots to the County Office Building on Ross Street, Downtown, by 8 p.m. tonight.
By all accounts, turn-out at the polls has been light across the county, including in Pittsburgh, where the city's mayoral race between Ed Gainey and challenger Corey O'Connor has dominated the political discussion for months. But there are still more than two hours before polls close ... and in the unlikely event a voter finds themselves standing in line at that hour, they must be allowed to cast their ballot.
The county also sent a late afternoon remainder that South Side residents who vote at the Market House on Bedford Square can use the facility: The area had been blocked off to shoot a film about the life of chocolate-maker Milton Hershey.
– Chris Potter
3:00 p.m.: Allegheny County's snazzy new 'I Voted N'at' stickers
A voting sticker distributed at an Allegheny County polling place on May 20, 2025. (5712x4284, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Back in February, Allegheny County announced the winner of its first sticker design contest: Mt. Lebanon 10th grader Molly Bozick.
The county received more than three dozen submissions, and Bozick's received the most votes from the pubic.
Bozick's stickers were rolled out across the county in today's primary.
2:15 p.m.: Breaking down the three ballot questions facing Pittsburgh voters
Confused by the confusing wording in those questions on your Pittsburgh ballot? You're not alone!
Fortunately, WESA's Chris Potter and Julia Maruca explain what each question is asking — and if they pass, what it will mean for the future of the city.
11:50 a.m.: Polling place in New Homestead/Hayes closed due to natural gas smell
A voting place in Pittsburgh's New Homestead/Hayes area has been shuttered after a Judge of Elections smelled natural gas at the site, which is located at Mt. Rise Baptist Church on Ingot Avenue.
A county spokesperson said that "out of an abundance of caution," the county was redirecting voters to the Holy Angels Church at 408 Baldwin Road — about six minutes from the old site.
The county otherwise reported no incidents by mid-day Tuesday. The first of the mail-in ballots have been removed from their envelopes and scanning has begun.
– Chris Potter
11:00 a.m.: Gainey hits the polls
Mayor Ed Gainey outside his polling place in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar on May 20, 2025. (5184x3456, AR: 1.5)
Mayor Ed Gainey voted around 10 a.m. at the Paulson Recreation Center in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar. He said he had gotten a favorable response at polls where he stopped by earlier in the morning.
He said he was proud of his administration's accomplishments, which he said included a drop in homicide rates and efforts to expand affordable housing. He touted his accomplishments over his term so far, citing increased affordable housing units and reduced homicide rates among his successes.
"We continue to do what we say we're going to do, and that's build a city where everybody feels seen and everybody feels accepted," he said. "We want to serve the people every single day."
Gainey said he felt he ran a "very positive campaign," though he also said the race was a choice between "two different candidates, one who wants to serve the people and the other who wants to serve corporate interests."
Gainey said he felt momentum was on his side: "That's why at the end of the day, we're going to continue to build on what we have."
Polling in the race has been limited, and largely furnished by the campaigns themselves, but there are signs the race has tightened from early spring.
–Julia Maruca
9:45 a.m.: 77,000 mail-in ballots returned
Allegheny County reports that a handful of complications at area polling places have all been resolved, and that its 1,327 polling places are open through 8 p.m. this evening.
As of this morning, the county had received 77,002 mail-in ballots of the 111,634 it sent out. The County Office Building on Ross Street will accept mail-in ballots until polls close.
–Chris Potter
9:05 a.m.: A dispatch from O'Connor's polling place
Mayoral candidate Corey O'Connor outside his polling place in Squirrel Hill on May 20, 2025. (5184x3456, AR: 1.5)
Mayoral challenger Corey O'Connor was up bright and early to vote on Tuesday morning. He and his wife brought their two kids to the polling location at Linden Pre-K in Squirrel Hill around 8 a.m.
"I feel proud of the way we ran this election, talking about issues that matter to all Pittsburghers," he said. "We have a choice in front of us today — we can take our city in a different direction, where we're more transparent. We talk about growth and opportunity in all areas [and] Pittsburgh should be every family's first choice. I think that's the type of administration we would build, and we're excited to have that opportunity."
O'Connor said he'd be visiting between 30 and 40 polling stops across the city throughout the day. "I think today's going to just be an adrenaline rush," he said. "You just go poll to poll, say hi to people and see what happens."
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is set to vote later this morning.
–Julia Maruca
8:45: Allegheny County processing ballots; scattered problems at polling places
Polls opened on schedule at 7 a.m. this morning, though there were scattered problems at some Allegheny County polling places: power outages, locked buildings, or troublesome equipment. Such issues are typical in a county that has some 1,300 voting districts and are usually quickly resolved, but as of 7:45 a.m., workers still had not gotten access to two Pittsburgh polling places — in Oakland and Glen Hazel. Two sites in West View were experiencing equipment problems.
At the North Side warehouse where mail-in ballots are held, some 140 county workers were beginning to process the ballots — first by confirming that envelopes were properly signed by voters and that each ballot was contained in an inner "privacy" envelope. While there are numerous steps to handling the mail-in ballots, vote totals for the vast majority of them are generally posted moments after the polls close at 8 p.m. tonight.
–Chris Potter
8:05 a.m.: About those Common Pleas judicial candidates...
We get it. There are an absolute ton of candidates running for the Allegheny County of Common Pleas — 22 people are running for eight open slots!
If you're wondering what exactly a Common Pleas judge does, Julia Zenkevich and Chris Potter explain the role in the WESA Voter Guide:
What does this job do?
Allegheny County Common Pleas Court handles cases involving everything from criminal charges to child custody disputes, addressing civil disputes and the disposition of wills. Its 43 judges are divided into four divisions — criminal, civil, family and orphans' court. Assignments are made by the court's president judge, so while judges can express an interest in a particular area of law, there is no guarantee of where they will be assigned.
Read more about job and all the candidates here.
7:00 a.m.: Polls are now open
It's time to vote. Polls will be open until 8 p.m. this evening; if you're waiting in line by then, officials must allow you to vote.
Here's where to find your polling location.
What do you need to bring with you to vote? As Chris Potter writes in our FAQ, if you haven’t voted in a location before, you should have some form of identification with you. A drivers license or passport are frequently used, but non-photo IDs can work as well, provided they feature your name and address.
Here are the forms of identification that the state says county election officials should accept.
6:30 a.m.: Polls open in 30 minutes
You're up early! Polls won't open until 7 a.m. Grab a cup of coffee, take the dog for a walk and do some final preparation!
We have a list of the top races to watch here.
We also have a super helpful FAQ answering everything you want to know about voting, from how to find your polling place to what you should do with your mail ballot.
Finally, if you haven't decided who you're voting for, dig into the WESA Voter Guide. We've covered all the contested local races today, from ballot questions to Pittsburgh mayor and Allegheny County Council to judges running for the Court of Common Pleas.
The first batch of county election results appeared just moments after polls closed at 8 p.m. The results showed O'Connor leading with 11,474 votes to Gainey's 6,268 — a split of roughly 64.5% to 35.2%.
That's a good early jump for O'Connor, but Gainey underperformed among mail-in voters when he beat then-Mayor Bill Peduto four years ago. In that contest, Gainey earned 36% of the mail-in ballots to Peduto's 53%. (Two other candidates split the remaining votes between them.) Gainey is on par with his mail-in performance, and in 2021 he spend the rest of the evening eating into Peduto's lead by racking up more votes cast in-person. On the other hand, the numbers suggest that the anti-incumbent votes that Gainey had to split four years ago might be unifying behind O'Connor tonight.
Find live election results here.
5:30 p.m. County processes nearly 80,000 mail ballots
Even before private-sector workers were packing up for the end of the day, county elections staff had finished the job of scanning the 77.995 mail-in ballots that they had received at the county's
North Side election warehouse by this afternoon. Most of those employees have been sent home for the day, though workers will keep an eye out for any final ballots that reach the post-office by 8 p.m. this evening.
Voters can still bring uncompleted mail-in ballots to the County Office Building on Ross Street, Downtown, by 8 p.m. tonight.
By all accounts, turn-out at the polls has been light across the county, including in Pittsburgh, where the city's mayoral race between Ed Gainey and challenger Corey O'Connor has dominated the political discussion for months. But there are still more than two hours before polls close ... and in the unlikely event a voter finds themselves standing in line at that hour, they must be allowed to cast their ballot.
The county also sent a late afternoon remainder that South Side residents who vote at the Market House on Bedford Square can use the facility: The area had been blocked off to shoot a film about the life of chocolate-maker Milton Hershey.
– Chris Potter
3:00 p.m.: Allegheny County's snazzy new 'I Voted N'at' stickers
A voting sticker distributed at an Allegheny County polling place on May 20, 2025. (5712x4284, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Back in February, Allegheny County announced the winner of its first sticker design contest: Mt. Lebanon 10th grader Molly Bozick.
The county received more than three dozen submissions, and Bozick's received the most votes from the pubic.
Bozick's stickers were rolled out across the county in today's primary.
2:15 p.m.: Breaking down the three ballot questions facing Pittsburgh voters
Confused by the confusing wording in those questions on your Pittsburgh ballot? You're not alone!
Fortunately, WESA's Chris Potter and Julia Maruca explain what each question is asking — and if they pass, what it will mean for the future of the city.
- Ballot question #1: local governance and prohibition of discrimination
- Ballot question #2: preventing the privatization of the city's water and sewer system
- Ballot question #3: lawful scope of the city's authority
11:50 a.m.: Polling place in New Homestead/Hayes closed due to natural gas smell
A voting place in Pittsburgh's New Homestead/Hayes area has been shuttered after a Judge of Elections smelled natural gas at the site, which is located at Mt. Rise Baptist Church on Ingot Avenue.
A county spokesperson said that "out of an abundance of caution," the county was redirecting voters to the Holy Angels Church at 408 Baldwin Road — about six minutes from the old site.
The county otherwise reported no incidents by mid-day Tuesday. The first of the mail-in ballots have been removed from their envelopes and scanning has begun.
– Chris Potter
11:00 a.m.: Gainey hits the polls
Mayor Ed Gainey outside his polling place in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar on May 20, 2025. (5184x3456, AR: 1.5)
Mayor Ed Gainey voted around 10 a.m. at the Paulson Recreation Center in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar. He said he had gotten a favorable response at polls where he stopped by earlier in the morning.
He said he was proud of his administration's accomplishments, which he said included a drop in homicide rates and efforts to expand affordable housing. He touted his accomplishments over his term so far, citing increased affordable housing units and reduced homicide rates among his successes.
"We continue to do what we say we're going to do, and that's build a city where everybody feels seen and everybody feels accepted," he said. "We want to serve the people every single day."
Gainey said he felt he ran a "very positive campaign," though he also said the race was a choice between "two different candidates, one who wants to serve the people and the other who wants to serve corporate interests."
Gainey said he felt momentum was on his side: "That's why at the end of the day, we're going to continue to build on what we have."
Polling in the race has been limited, and largely furnished by the campaigns themselves, but there are signs the race has tightened from early spring.
–Julia Maruca
9:45 a.m.: 77,000 mail-in ballots returned
Allegheny County reports that a handful of complications at area polling places have all been resolved, and that its 1,327 polling places are open through 8 p.m. this evening.
As of this morning, the county had received 77,002 mail-in ballots of the 111,634 it sent out. The County Office Building on Ross Street will accept mail-in ballots until polls close.
–Chris Potter
9:05 a.m.: A dispatch from O'Connor's polling place
Mayoral candidate Corey O'Connor outside his polling place in Squirrel Hill on May 20, 2025. (5184x3456, AR: 1.5)
Mayoral challenger Corey O'Connor was up bright and early to vote on Tuesday morning. He and his wife brought their two kids to the polling location at Linden Pre-K in Squirrel Hill around 8 a.m.
"I feel proud of the way we ran this election, talking about issues that matter to all Pittsburghers," he said. "We have a choice in front of us today — we can take our city in a different direction, where we're more transparent. We talk about growth and opportunity in all areas [and] Pittsburgh should be every family's first choice. I think that's the type of administration we would build, and we're excited to have that opportunity."
O'Connor said he'd be visiting between 30 and 40 polling stops across the city throughout the day. "I think today's going to just be an adrenaline rush," he said. "You just go poll to poll, say hi to people and see what happens."
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is set to vote later this morning.
–Julia Maruca
8:45: Allegheny County processing ballots; scattered problems at polling places
Polls opened on schedule at 7 a.m. this morning, though there were scattered problems at some Allegheny County polling places: power outages, locked buildings, or troublesome equipment. Such issues are typical in a county that has some 1,300 voting districts and are usually quickly resolved, but as of 7:45 a.m., workers still had not gotten access to two Pittsburgh polling places — in Oakland and Glen Hazel. Two sites in West View were experiencing equipment problems.
At the North Side warehouse where mail-in ballots are held, some 140 county workers were beginning to process the ballots — first by confirming that envelopes were properly signed by voters and that each ballot was contained in an inner "privacy" envelope. While there are numerous steps to handling the mail-in ballots, vote totals for the vast majority of them are generally posted moments after the polls close at 8 p.m. tonight.
–Chris Potter
8:05 a.m.: About those Common Pleas judicial candidates...
We get it. There are an absolute ton of candidates running for the Allegheny County of Common Pleas — 22 people are running for eight open slots!
If you're wondering what exactly a Common Pleas judge does, Julia Zenkevich and Chris Potter explain the role in the WESA Voter Guide:
What does this job do?
Allegheny County Common Pleas Court handles cases involving everything from criminal charges to child custody disputes, addressing civil disputes and the disposition of wills. Its 43 judges are divided into four divisions — criminal, civil, family and orphans' court. Assignments are made by the court's president judge, so while judges can express an interest in a particular area of law, there is no guarantee of where they will be assigned.
Read more about job and all the candidates here.
7:00 a.m.: Polls are now open
It's time to vote. Polls will be open until 8 p.m. this evening; if you're waiting in line by then, officials must allow you to vote.
Here's where to find your polling location.
What do you need to bring with you to vote? As Chris Potter writes in our FAQ, if you haven’t voted in a location before, you should have some form of identification with you. A drivers license or passport are frequently used, but non-photo IDs can work as well, provided they feature your name and address.
Here are the forms of identification that the state says county election officials should accept.
6:30 a.m.: Polls open in 30 minutes
You're up early! Polls won't open until 7 a.m. Grab a cup of coffee, take the dog for a walk and do some final preparation!
We have a list of the top races to watch here.
We also have a super helpful FAQ answering everything you want to know about voting, from how to find your polling place to what you should do with your mail ballot.
Finally, if you haven't decided who you're voting for, dig into the WESA Voter Guide. We've covered all the contested local races today, from ballot questions to Pittsburgh mayor and Allegheny County Council to judges running for the Court of Common Pleas.