A candidate with West Hills ties who’s running to earn the Democratic nomination in the 45th state House District has come under fire for a controversial campaign mailer – and is in danger of losing his Allegheny County Council leadership and seeing his state House campaign run off the rails.
Council President Pat Catena, who is bidding to become the Democratic nominee in a race to replace outgoing state Rep. Anita Kulik, came under fire after a campaign mailer sent out by Friends of Pat Catena alleged that his opponent in the May 19 primary, Robinson Township resident Brittany Bloam, is supported by an “extreme left group that advocates for transgender athletes in our sports.”
The mailer caught the attention of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, which posted a notice on social media saying that it “does not support or stand behind speech using identity-based attacks.”
90.5 WESA reported on its website that Catena issued a statement in which he apologized to the LGBTQIA+ communities “and to anyone else I hurt or disappointed with the recent mailer sent on behalf of my campaign. The message was inappropriate and did not reflect the level of respect I have for our transgender neighbors.”
Catena did not respond to a request for comment from the West Hills Gazette.
The apology, issued on May 8, did not put an end to the controversy. People attending Tuesday night’s County Council meeting held signs calling for Catena to resign and Councilmember DeWitt Walton “suggested” that Catena step down as council president “tonight – right now.”
That did not happen, but on Wednesday, seven members of the 15-member council signed a statement saying that at the May 26 Council meeting they would support a motion to vacate Catena’s chair as president and hold a new election for council president.
“Respect and tolerance for all is required for those who serve in our county government,” the statement began. “Attacks on marginalized groups of people in service of one’s own political advancement are not acceptable.
“These actions undermine faith in County Council as a governing body, and its ability to represent and enact policy on behalf of every member of the communities that make up our County. We cannot entrust the powers that come with council leadership to someone who knowingly caused harm and refuses to address the impact of his action.
“We had hoped that President Catena would have taken responsibility for himself and stepped down, but this has so far not happened. We will take action instead.”
Signing that statement were Councilmembers Dan Grzybek, Bethany Hallam, Paul Klein, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling, Alex Rose, Lissa Geiger Shulman and Jordan Botta. Botta is County Council’s first openly gay member.
Grzybek said Thursday the election mailer “made enough of us uncomfortable with (Catena) continuing to represent us and having the privilege to serve as president. We want to use our power to elect a new president that better represents the council.”
Catena, a third-generation Carnegie resident, has represented District 4 on County Council since January 2017. The district includes Carnegie, Coraopolis, Kennedy, McKees Rocks, Pennsbury Village, Robinson, Stowe and Thornburg,
Catena is seeking the Democratic party’s nod to replace Kulik, who chose not to run for re-election. Running against Catena is Bloam, a Robinson Township resident who described herself as a “working mom, lawyer and lifelong advocate for strong communities” in a story published on 90.5 WESA’s website.
WESA also reported that Kulik has endorsed Bloam in the race to replace her.
James Julius is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for the 45th House seat and will face the winner of the Catena-Bloam battle in November.
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