Gene Walker

Gene Walker

Democratic Party

Candidate, Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

3

Predecessor

Veronica Edwards

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 2, 2021

Next election

November 4, 2025

Education

Bachelor's

Bloomsburg University, 1998

Personal

Birthplace

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Direct support professional

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Gene Walker (Democratic Party) is a member of the Pittsburgh School District school board in Pennsylvania, representing District 9. He assumed office on December 6, 2021. His current term ends on December 1, 2025.

Walker (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Pittsburgh School District school board to represent District 9 in Pennsylvania. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025. He advanced from the Democratic primary on May 20, 2025.

Biography

Gene Walker was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree from Bloomsburg University in 1998. Walker's career experience includes working as a direct support professional and accredited financial counselor.

Elections

2025

See also: Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pennsylvania, elections (2025)

General election

General election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

Incumbent Gene Walker is running in the general election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9 on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Gene Walker (D)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

Incumbent Gene Walker defeated Allison Petonic in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9 on May 20, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gene Walker	49.8	2,663
	Submit photo	Allison Petonic	49.7	2,658
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	25

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,346
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Lauren Stuparitz (D)

Endorsements

Walker received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.

• Allegheny County Democratic Committee
• Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers
• Allegheny County (PA) Democratic Committee
• Beacon Coalition

2021

See also: Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pennsylvania, elections (2021)

General election

General election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

Gene Walker defeated incumbent Veronica Edwards in the general election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gene Walker (D)	67.6	5,298
	Submit photo	Veronica Edwards (R)	32.1	2,513
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	21

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,832
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

Gene Walker defeated incumbent Veronica Edwards and Delancey Walton in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9 on May 18, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gene Walker	39.8	2,057
	Submit photo	Veronica Edwards	37.6	1,943
	Submit photo	Delancey Walton	22.1	1,143
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	27

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,170
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

Incumbent Veronica Edwards advanced from the Republican primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9 on May 18, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Veronica Edwards	91.5	461
		Other/Write-in votes	8.5	43

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 504
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Walker's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Gene Walker has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Gene Walker, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

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2021

Gene Walker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Walker's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Gene Walker is a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Pittsburgh’s Peabody High School and received his bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Gene serves as an Elder at Mosaic Community Church as well as the Co-chair of the Pittsburgh Presbytery New Worshipping Communities Commission. Gene has also recently won the Democratic Nomination for Pittsburgh Public School Board Director for district 9.

. I am running for PPS School Board Director for District 9 because I believe that all our children deserve the best possible education regardless of their zip code or feeder pattern. I am running because I believe in public school, specifically Pittsburgh Public School. I believe in the potential of our PPS students and know that we won’t fully realize that potential if we continue doing business in the same old way. I’m running because we need to be willing to fight for change if we want anything to change. In 2009 I came back home to work with The Pittsburgh Promise I spent almost 9 years developing and implementing programs to impact student achievement and outcomes, but I did not do that in a bubble. I talked to students, parents, teachers, and administrators to provide programs that delivered outcomes because they were created using the input of all the parties involved. I did not just listen to them, but I heard them and used their voice to give them programs that that wanted and needed.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Creating budget accountability and prioritization
• Creating partnerships with Key stakeholder
• Increasing and retaining the diversity of the teaching staff, including a priority on local talent

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I believe in fair and equitable public education for all students regardless of zip code or feeder patter.
I believe that local public school should work with city and state officials to achieve common goals.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I believe the most important characteristic is honesty. As an elected official, people have to believe that you will do what you say you are going to do. For me that means doing the right thing the first time regardless of the political ramifications.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to leave a legacy of hard work and meaningful relationships. When people think about me, I want them to remember how I helped improve their life in some way.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was when I was just turning 15. I worked in the home fashions department at the local Sears and sold bathroom items, drapes, curtains, and bedding. I worked there for about 1.5 years until the store closed. It was a great experience and fostered my love for serving other and also led to me into my early career in sales. It also taught me how to listen to people and understand their needs. I still use the lessons learned at that job to this day.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

A school board member has two primary jobs. First we hire and evaluate the Superintendent, and second we approve the annual budget. These two function are the basis for the other work that we do. In addition we support he district and Superintendent to develop plans to improve educational outcomes for the student we serve and act the point person for the people who live in our district.

Who are your constituents?

My primary constituents are the families and people who live in my district, but as one of the 9 members of the board, this extends to every family in our school district.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

It starts with listening and understanding. I would work to make sure that I am available to the people in my district by having open lines of communication. Understanding that I will not make everyone happy is important, but I will focus on making the best decision possible by doing what I feel is right each and every time I cast a vote.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

Pittsburgh has a diversity of public sector, private sector, and non-profit sector organizations in our city. I would work with my other board colleagues to find ways to reach out to these organizations to build partnerships that can give our students a better chance to compete after they complete high school. I also plan to work with city, county, and state elected officials to see how we can achieve common goals together.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

One area that I feel we as a district can do a better job is in recruiting and retaining quality local talent with an emphasis on diversity. Many of our black and brown students go years without a teacher who looks like them. Promoting high quality diverse teaching must be a long-term priority that starts in our schools. If we truly want to create the ideal workforce, it must be a reflecting in the district budget and hiring priorities. I would work to move the board in that directions.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

I plan to attend as many parent meeting and community group meetings as my schedule will allow. I believe it will be critical to show up often and not just during election season. One of my plans is to establish a monthly "talk to you Board Member" event in each of the areas of my district to allow parents to have better access.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 9

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