National Dem Chair Campaigns for Goughnour

Ahead of listening tour, DNC’s Martin stresses need to compete at every level

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
February 19, 2025
Posted in: Politics & Elections

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee; Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin; state legislative candidate Dan Goughnour; and Sam Hens-Greco, Allegheny County Democratic Committee chair during a Tuesday event in McKeesport. (Kyle Nelson photo, submitted by McKeesport Democratic Committee)

The national chair of the Democratic Party visited the city on Tuesday afternoon to rally local candidates and urge them to compete at every level.

Ken Martin, a longtime political activist in his home state of Minnesota, visited with Dan Goughnour and other local Democrats during a visit to a new campaign headquarters in the Executive Building, Downtown.

“It was almost overwhelming,” Goughnour said. “He told us they don’t want to take any election for granted. We need to work hard, knock on doors, win the little races before we take on the large races.”

Goughnour, a McKeesport police officer and member of the McKeesport Area School Board, is the Democratic candidate to replace the late state Rep. Matt Gergely in a special election March 25. Goughnour is being challenged by Republican candidate Chuck Davis, a White Oak council member and volunteer firefighter.

In addition to the city, the 35th Legislative District includes Clairton, Duquesne, Homestead, Liberty Borough, Lincoln Borough, Munhall, Port Vue, South Versailles Twp., Versailles, White Oak and parts of West Mifflin.

Goughnour and about 75 other party volunteers were joined by current and retired elected officials from throughout the Mon-Yough area. Afterwards, volunteers fanned out through the McKeesport area, knocking on at least 500 doors, according to one party leader.

Volunteers and Goughnour canvass in McKeesport on Tuesday afternoon. (Kyle Nelson photo, submitted by McKeesport Democratic Committee)

Gergely, 45, died Jan. 19 following a brief illness. His death has left the Pennsylvania General Assembly tied at 101-101 between Republicans and Democrats.

Goughnour, who joked that “I’m starting to get frostbite” from walking local voting districts and knocking on doors, said a member of Martin’s team reached out last week and said the newly elected DNC chair wanted to come to McKeesport.

Martin was joined at Goughnour’s campaign office by state Sen. Nick Pisciottano; state Reps. Jessica Benham, Malcolm Kenyatta, John Inglis and Dan Miller; McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko; Clairton Mayor Rich Lattanzi; retired state Sen. Jim Brewster; retired state Rep. Bill Kortz; Duquesne Council Member Aaron Adams; McKeesport Area School Director Matt Keller; and former state Rep. Marc Gergely of White Oak.

Kenyatta, of eastern Pennsylvania, was recently elected vice-chair of the national party.

A message left for Martin by Tube City Almanac seeking comment was not immediately returned.

But the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Martin released a memo calling on members of his party to fight on behalf of “kitchen table issues that matter to most Americans” and push back on what he called the Trump Administration’s “far-right agenda.”

In the memo, obtained by the Post, Martin accuses Trump “and his billionaire backers of carving up the federal government to sell for parts” and “creating chaos .. in order to enrich themselves.”

Martin also was visiting with Democratic Party officials in Illinois and Missouri.

Visiting McKeesport — a one-time hotbed of labor-union organizing — was seen by observers as a step toward reconnecting the party with its working class roots.

Before visiting the city, Martin met in the Strip District with members of the United Steelworkers union. A reporter for the Pittsburgh Union Progress, Steve Mellon, who attempted to cover the roundtable discussion was asked to leave in what staff later described as “an oversight.”

In McKeesport, local officials were frustrated because Mon Valley media representatives were not invited to the event, although reporters from the national political website Axios and Pittsburgh’s NPR affiliate were included.

However, the event was advertised on Goughnour’s Facebook page and was open to the public.

Despite Tuesday’s frigid temperatures, which Goughnour said made canvassing a challenge, many residents did answer their doors and wanted to know about crime prevention and education.

“They want to know how we’re going to make sure our schools are funded,” Goughnour said. “I think because they know I’m a police officer and a school board member, those are the issues they’re pressing me on. I think people know I’m in their corner on those issues.”

Originally published February 19, 2025.

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