Matt Dugan claims victory, Stephen Zappala concedes in Democratic race for Allegheny County district attorney
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Matt Dugan has claimed victory over Stephen Zappala for the Democratic nomination for Allegheny County district attorney.
With 97 percent of the votes in for Tuesday's primary election, Dugan leads Zappala 93,179 to 74,287. Dugan told his supporters he was not shocked by the outcome, adding his message resonated with voters.
"We did really well in the suburban areas, really well in the mail-ins, which is where we were thinking we might be behind and we did really well," Dugan said. "People favor criminal justice reform. I feel confident our message will carry through."
Voters had a chance to nominate a new district attorney or keep in place a long-term veteran of the office. Zappala has been Allegheny County's district attorney for 26 years. He said he will likely run as a Republican in November, calling this "halftime."
It won't be official until all the write-in votes are tallied, but Zappala needs at least 500 to be the Republican nominee.
"I apologize to my friends and supporters that we didn't have a stronger showing this evening," Zappala said on the South Side to his supporters. "But I tell you what, if we stick around to the November race, we are going to kick some (expletive) and take some names."
KDKA-TV asked Zappala on Tuesday if he would do anything differently in his campaign and he said he would have highlighted his accomplishments more.
Dugan is the county's chief public defender whose office represents those unable to afford a criminal defense attorney. He promised to reform the district attorney's office to move away from prosecuting low-level non-violent criminals and treating them instead for issues that emanate from mental health, drug abuse and poverty.
During his time in office, Zappala said he created special problem-solving courts for those with mental health issues, drug issues and domestic violence with the goal of reducing repeat offenders.
