Allegheny County’s 45th state Senatorial District has attracted more candidates than any other race in the region, in a contest that could be crucial in determining which party controls the state legislature’s upper chamber next year.
And, at least on the Republican side, there are a bit of fireworks.
Kami Stulginskas, an upstart Republican challenger from Munhall, is accusing Republican leadership of unethical behavior for putting what she said was too much outside pressure on the race.
She told TribLive that a “Harrisburg cabal” was behind a challenge to her petition signatures, which was unsuccessful as a judge ruled Stulginskas’ signatures were valid and she could stay on the Republican ballot.
Stulginskas said the effort cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and she lamented the process. She added Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, threatened to withhold support in the general election if she were to win the primary. She said Ward asked her to drop out of the race and offered her a job if she did.
“That feels like a bribe,” she said. “My entire family fled communist Lithuania to get away from this stuff. This is more akin to communists than to democracy.”
Ward said, “There is no cabal keeping anyone out of this race.” Ward said she is merely supporting Stulginskas’ opponent Jen Dintini, who she said has one of the best chances for Republicans to flip the longtime Democratic seat.
She said Stulginskas seems nice but is merely angry Ward is supporting Dintini. Ward criticized Stulginskas for “picking a pointless fight” instead of campaigning.
Ward admitted she offered Stulginskas a job on her campaign team to “help us win this Senate seat in November.” Ward didn’t say if she asked Stulginskas to drop out.
This pre-election drama signifies the importance of the 45th Senatorial District, which covers Allegheny County’s Mon Valley, as well as eastern and southern suburbs such as Plum, Monroeville, Brentwood, Baldwin and Castle Shannon.
Two Democrats and two Republicans are running for the seat, and it’s a key target for Republicans to flip come November in order to hold their majority in the state Senate.
They are vying to take over for state Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, who has held the seat for over 12 years and is retiring at the end of this year.
It’s a district that leans Democratic, with Democrats holding just under a 2-1 voter registration advantage but with an electorate that is prone to split tickets.
With strong contention already brewing in the run-up to Tuesday’s primary election, it sets up an even bigger fight come November.
Republicans
Jen Dintini
Dintini, 42, runs two security guard businesses, Am-Gard Inc. and 3G Security Solutions. She said she has traveled throughout the district for work and touted her background as a business leader as being valuable if elected.
She said the biggest issue for the 45th District is economic revitalization. Dintini said boosting the region’s energy industry is one of the best ways to create more jobs.
“We are literally sitting on an abundance of natural energy,” said Dintini, referring to the area’s large natural-gas reserves. “The state Legislature needs to ensure we don’t have excessive taxes on this industry, since they create great jobs.”
Dintini of Plum said an increased focus on economic revitalization, bettering public safety through more grant funding for local police departments, and more mental health counseling for schoolchildren will help turn around population decline in the district.
She said she is willing to work across the aisle to pass legislation. Unlike many other Republicans, Dintini praises organized labor and touts the unionized workforce at her security companies.
“I am pro-union,” Dintini said. “I have worked with them for a number of years, it has been beneficial.”
She said flipping the district into Republican control would create more opportunities to get things passed, since she would be a part of the chamber’s majority, and that change is necessary to see new results.
“Biggest message is that we can’t keep electing the same kind of politicians and expecting different results,” Dintini said.
Kami Stulginskas
Stulginskas, 51, is chair of the Steel Valley Republican Committee and grew up in Munhall, where she lives today.
She said the main reason she is running is to fight back against “career politicians” who are ruining the government.
While neither she nor Dintini has held elected office, Stulginskas said she is the real grassroots outsider. She criticized Dintini for being close with Republican leadership, and for how much money Harrisburg insiders have given to Dintini’s campaign.
Political action committees connected to Ward and state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana County, donated $100,000 to Dintini’s campaign, which is the vast majority of Dintini’s fundraising haul.
By comparison, Stulginskas’ campaign raised $2,500, mostly from the Steel Valley Republican Committee.
Stulginskas said the money flowing in to defeat her — referencing the unsuccessful attempt to get her kicked off the ballot by challenging her petitions — is part of a pattern of trying to silence upstart candidates like herself.
“This scares away people running for office,” she said. “Then you just get these career politicians.”
Stulginskas said, if elected, she would work to tackle the fentanyl crisis that is leading to a slew of overdose deaths. She said more state programs are needed to address the crisis and to increase enforcement efforts.
On the state’s role in education, Stulginskas said she supports so-called school choice legislation, which proposes to provide state-funded vouchers for children to attend private schools.
Stulginskas said she is the best candidate to flip the district out of Democratic control, and she believes that Dintini would be too distracted to win the race and serve in Harrisburg because of the companies she owns and because Dintini is a mother to young children.
“When would she have time to run?” Stulginskas said. “I don’t know when she will have time to go to Harrisburg.”
Democrats
Nick Pisciottano
State Rep. Nick Pisciottano, D-West Mifflin, was endorsed by Brewster shortly after he announced his run for the 45th District.
He has served as state representative in a district with a lot of overlap with the 45th Senatorial District for the last three years. Pisciottano, 34, is one of the youngest state legislators in Harrisburg.
He said that gives him a combination of experience and energy that will be valuable if he is elected to the state Senate.
“I have a blend of experience and still have a fresh perspective,” Pisciottano said. “I have served in the majority and minority in the state House. This district has myriad issues, and I believe I understand them well.”
Pisciottano said he would focus on creating jobs, improving public schools and boosting public transportation.
He said Mon Valley communities like McKeesport, Braddock and Duquesne need good public transportation connections to Downtown Pittsburgh and other areas.
He said state money could be vital for potentially extending the East Busway into the Mon Valley and for helping to complete the Mon-Fayette Expressway. That, he said, would connect the area to the state’s interstate highway system.
Pisciottano touts his endorsem*nt from the United Steelworkers labor union and said he would prefer U.S. Steel be owned by an American company. He said his main focus with U.S. Steel is to ensure investments are made at the Mon Valley facilities to keep them viable and run cleaner.
“I want to make sure the jobs are protected and make sure we don’t have a replay of the 1980s and everything leaving all at once,” he said.
He said the state needs to raise the minimum wage but isn’t sure what exactly the number should be. But he said any increase should be continually tied to inflation.
Pisciottano said retaining the 45th District in Democratic control is crucial to the party’s chances at flipping the state Senate, which he added is vital to protecting rights to abortion access and boosting public education.
His campaign raised over $102,000 this year and has $95,000 cash on hand, as of April 12.
He has earned endorsem*nts from over two dozen labor unions, the Allegheny County Democratic Committee and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, a Democrat who is from McKeesport.
“I think I am best positioned to hold this seat, and the race in the fall will be difficult and expensive,” Pisciottano said. “We need a big coalition to win.”
Makenzie White
White, 29, works as a social worker and an environmental consultant.
She is seeking to become the first woman to hold the 45th Senatorial District seat, which she said is important because women’s rights are under attack after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Having a woman in this seat is important for fighting for abortion rights,” she said. “You need to have more people with diverse backgrounds at the table writing legislation.”
White of Brentwood said the district suffers from persistent air pollution, and she will fight for more environmental protections if elected.
She rejects the notion that improving the environment comes at a cost of fewer jobs and said the state should leverage more resources from the federal government to help transition the region’s energy industry away from fossil fuels and toward so-called renewable energy sources.
“I am not a fan of the idea that strong union jobs are in opposition to clean air,” White said. “I believe we can have both.”
White supports efforts to “fix” the state’s public school funding formula and direct more resources to struggling school districts. And she said improving school districts in the 45th District would go a long way toward helping communities on the decline attract and retain residents.
She said her experience as a social worker would be valuable in Harrisburg.
White said the state needs to be bolder in addressing the addiction crisis. She supports legalizing needle exchanges and said homeless shelters should not be requiring people to be off drugs. She said data has shown these policies, even if controversial, have an impact in helping get people into treatment.
White said that would be “a huge shift” in how addiction is handled, “but it is also incredibly more effective.”
White has been endorsed by some progressive groups in the area, including Sunrise Movement Pittsburgh and 1Hood Media. Her campaign raised nearly $21,000 this year.
Ryan Deto is a TribLive reporter covering politics, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County news. A native of California’s Bay Area, he joined the Trib in 2022 after spending more than six years covering Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh City Paper, including serving as managing editor. He can be reached at rdeto@triblive.com.
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