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Stephen Zappala
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1998 - Present
2028
27
Stephen Zappala (Democratic Party) is the Allegheny County District Attorney in Pennsylvania. Zappala assumed office in 1998. Zappala's current term ends on January 3, 2028.
Zappala (Republican Party, Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Allegheny County District Attorney in Pennsylvania. Zappala (Republican Party) won in the general election on November 7, 2023. Zappala lost in the Democratic primary on May 16, 2023. Zappala advanced as a write-in from the Republican primary on May 16, 2023.
Elections
2023
Incumbent Stephen Zappala defeated Matt Dugan in the general election for district attorney. Zappala, a Democrat, ran as a Republican in the general election after Dugan defeated Zappala in the Democratic primary.[1] Click here to learn more.
See also: Municipal elections in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (2023)
General election
General election for Allegheny County District Attorney
Incumbent Stephen Zappala defeated Matt Dugan in the general election for Allegheny County District Attorney on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Stephen Zappala (R) | 51.4 | 189,230 | |
 | Matt Dugan (D) | 48.5 | 178,653 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 380 | ||
| Total votes: 368,263 | |||
 = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Allegheny County District Attorney
Matt Dugan defeated incumbent Stephen Zappala in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County District Attorney on May 16, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Dugan | 55.6 | 94,974 |
| Stephen Zappala | 44.3 | 75,575 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 196 | ||
| Total votes: 170,745 | |||
| = 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 Allegheny County District Attorney
Incumbent Stephen Zappala defeated Matt Dugan in the Republican primary for Allegheny County District Attorney on May 16, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Stephen Zappala (Write-in) | 93.9 | 9,714 | |
| Matt Dugan (Write-in) | 6.1 | 632 | |
| Total votes: 10,346 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2019
See also: Municipal elections in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (2019)
General election
General election for Allegheny County District Attorney
Incumbent Stephen Zappala defeated Lisa Middleman in the general election for Allegheny County District Attorney on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Stephen Zappala (D) | 57.1 | 154,015 | |
 | Lisa Middleman (Independent) | 42.8 | 115,404 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 409 | ||
| Total votes: 269,828 | |||
| = 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 Allegheny County District Attorney
Incumbent Stephen Zappala defeated Turahn Jenkins in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County District Attorney on May 21, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Stephen Zappala | 59.1 | 65,581 | |
| Turahn Jenkins | 40.7 | 45,224 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 235 | ||
| Total votes: 111,040 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2016
Zappala filed to run in the April 26 Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Attorney General.[2] The filing deadline was February 16, 2016. He was defeated by Josh Shapiro.
Josh Shapiro defeated Stephen Zappala and John Morganelli in the Pennsylvania Attorney General Democratic Primary.
| Pennsylvania Attorney General Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Josh Shapiro |
47.00% | 725,168 | |
| Democratic | Stephen Zappala | 36.76% | 566,501 | |
| Democratic | John Morganelli | 16.23% | 250,097 | |
| Total Votes | 1,541,766 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State | ||||
Primary race background
- Main article: Pennsylvania races we're watching, 2016
The closely-watched race for Pennsylvania Attorney General was open following incumbent Kathleen Kane's (D) resignation on August 17, 2016, after she was found guilty on charges of perjury and abuse of her office. Kane, the first Democrat to hold the office since 1979, won in 2012 by 15 points.
Josh Shapiro and Zappala came out on top in a January 2016 poll. Zappala edged out Shapiro by one point while 49 percent of those surveyed were undecided; Shapiro was just a few points shy of the two-thirds majority vote required to earn the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in March.[3]
The candidates received the following key endorsements:
| Key endorsements, Democratic primary candidates[4][5][6][7] | ||
|---|---|---|
| John Morganelli | Josh Shapiro | Stephen Zappala |
| Lehigh Valley Building Trades | Governor Tom Wolf (D) | State Senator Anthony Williams (D) |
| State Senator Lisa Boscola (D) | State Senator Bob Casey (D) | Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council |
| Carbon County D.A. Jean Engler (D) | Former Governor Ed Rendell (D) | United Mine Workers of America District 2 |
| Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse (D) | International Association of Firefighters Local 1, Local 22 | |
| Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 | Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald | |
| Pennsylvania State Education Association | ||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Stephen Zappala did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Stephen Zappala did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Zappala's campaign website pointed to his prosecutorial experience and also noted his efforts while in office to fight corruption, child abuse, and animal mistreatment as well as to support veterans' rights.[7]
Noteworthy events
Allegheny County District Attorney Republican write-in campaign (2023)
On May 16, 2023, Stephen Zappala lost the Democratic primary for Allegheny County District Attorney 56%-44% to Chief Public Defender Matt Dugan. Dugan had the support of progressive groups, including the Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety PAC, which contributed nearly $2M to his campaign.[8]
Referring to Zappala's loss in the Democratic primary, former Gov. Tom Corbett (R) said, "The progressive wing of the Democratic Party has been growing in influence within Allegheny County. ... We thought that might happen — and when I say 'we,' I mean the county chair of the Republican Party and myself." Corbett added, "The experience of Mr. Zappala, who I've worked with when I was attorney general, is very important to the people of Allegheny County."[9]
No candidate filed to run in the Republican primary, and county Republicans, including Corbett, helped organize a simultaneous write-in campaign for Zappala in that primary.[9] Zappala won the Republican nomination with 9,714 write-in votes (93.9%) on May 16, and defeated Dugan 52%-48% in the November 7 general election.
After winning re-election, Zappala said he would remain a Democrat.[10]
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Pittsburgh Voters Stop a Soros-Backed Prosecutor Candidate," November 10, 2023
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, “Election Information,” accessed February 17, 2016
- ↑ CBS Pittsburg, "Pa. Democratic State Committee Not Endorsing Any Senate Candidates," March 5, 2016
- ↑ Josh Shapiro, "Endorsements," accessed March 25, 2016
- ↑ Politics PA, "Lehigh Building Trades Endorse Morganelli," February 26, 2016
- ↑ Politics PA, "Boscola Endorses Morganelli for AG," March 3, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Stephen Zappala, "Press Releases," accessed March 2,5 2016
- ↑ 90.5 WESA, "A guide to the 2023 Allegheny County district attorney election: Matt Dugan vs. Stephen Zappala," October 9, 2023
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Strange bedfellows: Primary loss forces Zappala to forge unconventional alliances," August 19, 2023
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, “Pittsburgh Voters Stop a Soros-Backed Prosecutor Candidate,” November 10, 2023
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