{"id":50716,"date":"2025-12-03T05:21:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T05:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/50716\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T05:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T05:21:07","slug":"pittsburghs-people-of-year-2025-politics-alex-rose-pittsburgh-city-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/50716\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh\u2019s People of Year 2025 \u2014 Politics: Alex Rose – Pittsburgh City Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whatever may be happening at the national level, progressives in Pittsburgh are undeterred. The local Democratic Party has shored up and built on its base<\/a>. Prominent left-leaning candidates now hold office everywhere from the county to Congress. Following November\u2019s blue wave election<\/a>, high off-year turnout<\/a> propelled even more local progressives into office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among their number is Labor Party candidate Alex Rose. Backed by local Democrats, Rose handily beat Republican County Councilor Mike Embrescia, putting both at-large seats in the hands of progressives for the first time in Allegheny County Council\u2019s 25-year history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rose\u2019s backstory mirrors one playing out nationally. A former Democratic campaign worker, he has shared in the rising national alarm at U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s chaotic second term. When Republican county councilor Sam DeMarco announced his retirement, Rose waited as no one stepped forward to oppose DeMarco\u2019s appointed replacement, Republican Mike Embrescia \u2014 so Rose decided to run himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo months goes by, no one\u2019s running,\u201d he tells Pittsburgh City Paper. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018that is really a shame.\u2019 This is an opportunity to really put a marker down on our county\u2019s values and give voters a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

With backing from Democrats, and despite a Republican-led lawsuit<\/a> to prevent the contested election that went all the way to the Pa. Supreme Court, Rose beat Embrescia handily<\/a> and will now serve out the remaining two years and one month of DeMarco\u2019s term. His victory leaves District 2 as the lone Republican-held seat on council.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it shows that the Allegheny County electorate does indeed really stand by some of these foundational values that we\u2019ve been seeing challenged\u201d by Trump\u2019s administration, Rose says of his win. \u201cI think it shows the American spirit is quite alive and well, even if our [federal] government is not being very responsive to that at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among Rose\u2019s priorities for his abbreviated term is environmental regulation. \u201cAs I said a lot on the campaign trail, hundreds of people die in Allegheny County each year linked to pollution,\u201d he says. \u201cThese are premature deaths that should not happen when they happen, and that\u2019s terrible. If there was a criminal gang running around killing hundreds of people a year, that would obviously be all of our first priorities.\u201d He supported a recently passed effort<\/a> to raise air permitting fees for industry as a way to boost revenue and fund further environmental improvements.<\/p>\n

Rose credits younger voters in the county with helping him make history this year \u2014 in addition to being the first at-large progressive, Rose, at 28, is among the youngest electeds at the county level, and he channels Gen Z\u2019s broad determination to push for more equitable politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people are extremely frustrated \u2014 they very much don\u2019t believe our institutions work for them, but, at the same time, they\u2019re not approaching that from a nihilistic point of view; they\u2019re approaching it as a challenge,\u201d Rose says. \u201cSeeing that desire for change, that willingness to tag in and get involved, it\u2019s really encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article appears in The Big Winter Issue: Winter Guide\/People of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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