Allegheny County Democrats back Garfinkel as party chair, affirm more progressive direction

Allegheny County Democrats voted decisively Sunday to give Kate Garfinkel and John Ukenye full four-year terms leading the party’s county committee as chair and vice chair.

Garfinkel and Ukenye beat their rivals, Frank Porco and Darlene Yanakos, by margins of more than two-to-one after five hours of voting at the IBEW Local #5 hall in the South Side. While few rank-and-file voters may take an interest in the outcomes of such contests, they can suggest the local party's direction in the years ahead.

The outcome is “a mandate from the committee members who like to see a professionally run organization with high ethics that is willing to come together and get Democrats elected," said Garfinkel.

“We’re moving the party forward and not backward,” she added



https://www.wesanews.org/politics-government/2026-06-29/allegheny-county-democrats-garfinkel-chair-progressive-direction