The Pittsburgh Mayor’s campaign team and staff members were upset by an allegedly racist mailer marketing blitz in support of challenger Corey O’Connor.
Mayor Ed Gainey and his campaign staff condemned a mailer sent by a PAC supporting Corey O’Connor, accusing the Allegheny County Controller of using racist tactics to undermine Gainey. The mailer in question, which circulated originally late last week, shows a run-down city building with the words “The Ed Gainey Legacy” written over the top. The other side accused Gainey of misusing public money and using tax-payer funds to pay for private consultants. Mayor Gainey has previously denied the longstanding allegations surrounding his administration of corruption and improper use of tax revenue.
The mailer was reportedly funded by the Common Sense Change Action PAC, an organization that is not directly affiliated with O’Connor’s campaign but supports his candidacy. Created earlier in 2025, the Common Sense Change Action PAC has raised $264,500, and has garnered large support from local Pittsburgh labor organizations and politicians that have openly endorsed O’Connor’s campaign. Community leaders in support of Gainey have accused the PAC of racism.
Brandi Fisher, President of the Pittsburgh Alliance for Police Accountability, said the mailer leaned into “deeply racist tropes” of “calling the administration of a Black mayor filled with cronies, implying he has misappropriated funds, saying he is enriching friends, and alleging financial mismanagement.” She further called the allegations “highly inappropriate.” The mailer also includes the words “Wasting millions. Supporting cronies. Hurting neighborhoods” written on the front. Fisher did not comment further on the allegations that Mayor Gainey and O’Connor have previously debated during townhall events. Gainey responded to the mailer by repeating similar arguments he’s made during those townhall events, accusing his challenger of deliberately and incorrectly blaming him for “systemic issues” that have existed since before Gainey took office.
O’Connor’s campaign released an official statement responding to the backlash from the mailer, and denied any affiliation to it or the Common Sense Change Action PAC. “Hateful rhetoric in any form is unacceptable,” the statement read. “It has no place in this race and will have no place in Corey O’Connor’s administration if elected.” State Rep. Aerion Abney, who has endorsed Gainey, called on O’Connor to more directly condemn the mailer.
Mike Mikus of the Common Sense Change Action PAC disputed any connection to race and reiterated that the mailer refers to government waste it attributes to Gainey. The back of the mailer references allegations of a “sweetheart contract” between a business partner of the mayor’s wife who worked on a $125,000 contract with the city to host the most recent Juneteenth festival. Neither Mikus nor O’Connor responded to some supporters of Gainey that have claimed the information featured on the mailer, regardless of racism, is incorrect. Supporters, including Brandi Fisher, have claimed the dilapidated building on the mailer is a photo from 2018, and Mayor Gainey has since led efforts to remove the building.
