With just weeks left in a grueling Democratic primary election that could shape Pittsburgh’s future, mayoral challenger Corey O’Connor’s dominant lead was slipping away as the incumbent seized the momentum.With help from progressive supporters, Mayor Ed Gainey ramped up his campaign.
He launched a high-profile tour that showcased affordable housing projects carried out during his administration that had become a defining issue in the historic race.
His supporters also began leveling accusations of racism against Mr. O’Connor after an outside group supporting him — a PAC called Common Sense Change — mailed flyers to voters across the city saying Mr. Gainey was wasting public money by hiring his cronies.
As part of the push, Mr. Gainey’s campaign even released an internal poll in late April that claimed he had amassed a 7-point lead over Mr. O’Connor.
Then came the dark money.
A super PAC housed in a nondescript, eight-story office building that towers over historic townhomes in Washington, D.C., moved $90,000 into Common Sense Change.
Three days later, the same group, Democracy Wins, sent another $60,000.
In just a few weeks, the group would funnel a total of $366,000 into the race — a massive infusion that fueled an ad blitz to defeat Mr. Gainey and put Mr. O’Connor on a nearly certain path to victory in November.
For voters, there was no way to know who was behind the last-minute flood of cash — or what they might want from the people who run city government.
It was the second time in two years that deep-pocketed donors had concealed their identities behind a network of groups created largely to move vast amounts of money into Western Pennsylvania without anyone knowing the individual contributors.
At a time when Americans are demanding greater transparency in elections, the movement of dark money into the region underscores just how pervasive this new form of campaign spending has become and how it’s impacting the most critical races in local government….