NW Allegheny voters will decide two hotly contested legislative races – The Times

J.D. Prose, USA TODAY Network - PA State Capitol Bureau| Beaver County Times

Voters in northwest Allegheny County have two heated state legislative races to settle on Nov. 3, one for a House seat and another for a Senate seat.

In the 44th Legislative District, state Rep. Valerie Gaydos, an Aleppo Township Republican, finds herself in a rematch against Ohio Township Democratic challenger Michele Knoll, whom Gaydos beat 52% to 48% in 2018.

Democratic state Sen. Pam Iovino, a Mount Lebanon resident, faces a challenge from Bridgeville business owner Devlin Robinson for the 37th Senate District seat, which Iovino won in a special election in April 2019.

Both are veterans with Iovino serving in the Navy and Robinson in the Marine Corps.

The race between Gaydos and Knoll has attracted interest with the House Democratic Campaign Committee putting it high on its list of GOP targets and outside groups for both sides funding attack mailers.

Besides Moon Township, Crescent Township and Sewickley, the 44th District covers Findlay, North Fayette, Aleppo and Ohio townships, as well as Edgeworth, Bell Acres, Sewickley Heights, Sewickley Hills, Glenfield, Haysville and Glen Osborne.

Two years ago, Gaydos, 53, touted her business acumen and how it would help small businesses in the district. On her website, Gaydos says she is a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment candidate.

Gaydos has voted for a bill to give $22 million a year in tax credits to future petrochemical plants and to end Gov. Tom Wolfs COVID-19 disaster declaration, a bill that Wolf vetoed and the GOP-controlled House could not override.

Knoll, 64, is an early intervention educator for children with disabilities, and former teacher at St. Malachy Catholic School in Kennedy Township and a former staff educator at the Carnegie Science Center.

She is also a former Avonworth School District board member.

On her website, Knoll pledges to be an advocate for small business owners, frontline workers in the pandemic, paid family and sick leave, and expanded coronavirus testing.

As she did four years ago, Knoll says that her experience as a teacher would benefit the district.

Iovino, 64, took over the 37th Senate District seat after winning a special election to replace now-U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, who left the state Senate afterhe was elected to Congress in 2018.

A retired Navy officer, Iovino also served as the assistant secretary for congressional and legislative affairs for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Iovino's website saysshe supports police reforms and highlightsher military firearms training to note that she also backs universal background checks.

This past July, Iovino joined on a letter urging Wolf to allow restaurants and bars struggling amid the pandemic to reopen without certain restrictions.

Robinson, who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, says on his website that he supports the energy industry in Pennsylvania and would oppose tax hikes. He is the owner of Veterans Medical Technology, a medical equipment company.

His website also says that Robinson supports fair funding for schools without taxing working families and retirees out of their homes.

The 37th District, which stretches from the West Hills to communities along Route 65 and down into the South Hills, includes Moon Township, Crescent Township and Sewickley.

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NW Allegheny voters will decide two hotly contested legislative races - The Times