Daria Devlin’s ascension to the top job in city of Erie politics is complete.
Devlin, who scored a stunning upset over incumbent Mayor Joe Schember in the May primary, soundly defeated her Republican challenger, Matthew Thomas, in the Nov. 4 municipal election.
According to unofficial vote totals from the Erie County Courthouse, with 91% of the vote counted, Devlin received 15,358 votes or 75%, to 4,927 votes or 24% for Thomas, an Erie lawyer.
Newly-elected Erie Mayor Daria Devlin hugs a supporter at 1020 Collective in Erie on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2025.
Daria Devlin, in May, celebrating her win in Erie’s Democratic mayoral primary. Devlin easily won the Nov. 4 municipal election over Republican challenger Matthew Thomas and will be sworn in as Erie’s 49th mayor in January.
Devlin, 48, will be sworn in as the city’s 49th mayor in January. She becomes the second woman to be elected as Erie’s mayor; Joyce Savocchio served three four-year terms from 1990 through 2001.
Savocchio, 82, endorsed Devlin’s candidacy.
“We started this almost a year ago and at that time of course we were a huge underdog, facing a two-term incumbent in Joe Schember,” Devlin said. “We worked so hard and talked to so many voters. To reach the finish line, it feels incredible. I really feel very grateful and very honored that the voters have this faith in me.”
Devlin said she’ll announce a transition team soon. She said Lori Spicer, who ran the Daria for Erie campaign, will serve as her chief of staff.
“Lori has been with me from the beginning and she’s a great project manager,” Devlin said.
Big donations helped fuel Devlin’s victory
Devlin, an Erie School Board member and the director of social impact at Hamot Health Foundation, won the Democratic nomination for mayor in May by four percentage points and slightly more than 400 votes, denying Schember a third four-year term.
Devlin’s campaign focused on upending the status quo at City Hall and she promised new, bold, inclusive leadership. She raised more than $217,000 in donations for her primary run, much of it from Erie Insurance and other heavy hitters in the local business community.
In total, Devlin’s campaign amassed nearly $300,000 in campaign contributions, which is believed to be a record for an Erie mayoral candidate.
Campaign cash: Democrat Devlin has massive fundraising edge over GOP’s Thomas in Erie mayor’s race
As she did following her primary win over Schember, Devlin celebrated with friends, family and political supporters on Nov. 4 at 1020 Collective, 1020 Holland St., in downtown Erie.
She said her priorities will be the city’s finances and to “get city hall working in the way that I think it can. We have great employees there and I want to build trust, build morale and get everyone moving in the same direction.
“Citizen response and citizen satisfaction will be important, making sure we’re doing the core work really well,” Devlin said. “We are in charge of very basic things in the city of Erie. Streets, and snow and code enforcement. And making sure our departments have what they need to do that work.”
Devlin was considered a huge favorite in the Nov. 4 election, primarily because of the city’s more than 2-1 Democratic voter registration edge. No Republican has been elected mayor of Erie since Charles Williamson in 1961.
Prior to the May primary, according to the Erie County Voter Registration Office, there were 31,093 registered Democrats in the city of Erie, compared to 13,850 registered Republicans.
Matthew Thomas, Republican candidate for Erie mayor.
Thomas, 38, was unopposed for the GOP nomination for mayor in the May 20 municipal primary.
In previous interviews, Thomas said he knew he was a significant underdog in the mayor’s race, but that he also relished that role.
New mayor, new salary
Devlin will also become the first Erie mayor to receive the salary boost that Erie City Council approved in September 2024. Council’s vote increased the mayor’s yearly salary from the current $95,000 to $120,000 a year, starting in in January 2026.
The new salary tops the list of annual pay that mayors receive in Pennsylvania’s third-class cities.
Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at @ETNflowers.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie mayor’s race: Democrat Devlin wins easily