8 Democrats Seeking Late PA State Rep. Tony DeLuca's Seat

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA — Eight candidates met Tuesday's deadline to vie for the late state Rep. Anthony DeLuca's House seat in a special election scheduled for Feb. 7. The Allegheny County Democratic Committee will determine which candidate will be on the ballot.

The candidates are:

• Nick Futules, Allegheny County Council vice president.

• Pauline Calabrese, Penn Hills mayor.

• Erin Vecchio, Penn Hills School Board president.

• Frank Pecora, Penn Hills council member.

• Tracey Holst, Oakmont council member.

• Oakmont attorney Lois Vitti.

• Louis Leon, a former DeLuca aide.

• Joe McAndrew, a former state House staffer.

DeLuca, who represented the 32nd Legislative District since 1983, died of lymphoma in October. He was 85.

It was too late to remove his name from the ballot in the November election, and he easily won re-election with more than 21,000 votes. He had no Republican opponent. Green Party candidate
Queona Livingston received 3,490 votes.

DeLuca's district includes Penn Hills, Verona, most of Plum and Oakmont.

Special elections will be held in two other Allegheny County legislative districts next year, as Democrats Summer Lee and Austin Davis are resigning from their seats.

Lee was elected to the U.S. House in November to succeed the retiring Mike Doyle. Austin was elected the state's lieutenant governor.