Iovino wins special election for 37th state Senate seat

Democrat Pam Iovino of Mt. Lebanon won the April 2 special election in the 37th Senatorial District to replace former state senator Guy Reschenthaler.
“Thank you so much for joining me tonight!” Iovino, a retired U.S. Navy captain, exclaimed to her army of supporters. “Congratulations on what you just accomplished. SD37 is blue again, and you did that.”
She called the experience “overwhelming” and promised, “I will work tirelessly for you – as hard as all of you worked to make this happen.”
She beat D. Raja, Allegheny County Republican Party chairman, who apparently based his concession on results from his watchers at the precincts. According to unofficial results, Iovino beat Raja with 33,310 votes to 30,741.
Iovino, director of veterans services for Allegheny County, grew up in Whitehall, a South Hills suburb, and graduated from Baldwin High School, Gettysburg College and the Naval War College. She was an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The 37th state Senate District takes in Pittsburgh’s South Hills and western airport corridor, along with Peters Township in Washington County.
“In a district Donald Trump won by six points in 2016, a win for Iovino would show that Democrats continue to have momentum in key races across the country as the American people advance into 2019 and towards 2020 elections rejecting Republican legislators who follow Trump’s lead,” according to a statement from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which spent more than $89,000 in the race.
Iovino thanked organized labor, and they responded in kind. The Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council also congratulated Iovino, who held her victory gathering at the Carpenter’s Union headquarters on the Parkway West.
“Labor played a central role in determining the outcome of a closely-watched special election in Southwestern Pennsylvania for the second consecutive year.
“Like they did in the special election that elected Conor Lamb to the United States Congress, organized labor knocked on thousands of doors and made tens of thousands of phone calls to union members in support of Iovino’s candidacy,” Democratic strategist Mike Mikus said.
Gov. Tom Wolf, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, and U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle and Lamb also campaigned on her behalf.
“My campaign was focused on listening to voters and hearing their concerns. The voters set the agenda for my campaign and for the work ahead. And I am excited to get to work,” she concluded.
Iovino’s victory brings the number of women in the Pennsylvania Senate to 13 members, and Washington County is now represented by two female senators, with the other being state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll.
Reschenthaler, who held the office after a special election in 2015, was elected to Congress in the newly-configured 14th District, which includes Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, and part of Westmoreland County. Reschenthaler resigned his state Senate seat Dec. 31, setting in motion the special election calendar, to elect someone to serve out the term.
Voters will again see the 37th Senatorial District on their ballots in 2020.