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Meet Tom Duerr

County Councilman

In November of 2019, Tom Duerr was overwhelmingly elected to serve the residents of Bethel Park, Bridgeville, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair on Allegheny County Council, ousting a nearly nearly 6 year incumbent to do so. At 24 years old, Tom became the youngest elected official in Allegheny County government's history.

Since being elected, Tom has championed a number of issues while serving the residents of the 5th District including: 

 

  • Implementing Countywide Paid Sick Leave (b)

  • Creating the Allegheny County Independent Police Review Board 

  • Banning LGTBQ+ Conversion Therapy (b)

  • Budgetarily De-prioritizing Abortion Criminalization Enforcement (b) 

  • Implementing Allegheny County Council Redistricting Reform (b)

  • Implementing Allegheny County Campaign Finance Reform 

  • Implementing term limits for Allegheny County candidates (b)

  • Holding the Line on Property Tax Increases (b)

Last year, Tom also led the effort to draw the new Allegheny County Council district map following the completion of the 2020 census, working closely in a bipartisan manner with the head of the Republican caucus to craft a fair, balanced county legislative map. At the 11th hour of this endeavor, Tom worked tirelessly and succeeded in quashing a Democratic gerrymander attempt that would have diluted the voices of thousands of Allegheny County residents for purely political gain - standing up to a number of members of his own caucus in the process.

 

*(b) - Denotes bipartisan legislation / effort

Photo Credit: Jared Murphy | WESA

Photo Credit: Michael A. Santiago | PGH Post-Gazette

Campaign Organizer

In August of 2016, Tom took the Fall semester off of his senior year at Penn State to work on the PA Democratic Coordinated Campaign. This would kick off his career as a campaign organizer and staffer in Southwest PA.  Since then, he has helped lead voter outreach efforts for a number of candidates across the region, most notably for former Congressman Conor Lamb and former State Senator Pam Iovino.

During that time, Tom spoke to thousands of voters spread across Southwestern PA while working for these campaigns, gaining tremendous insight into not just how to be an effective candidate and elected official, but also a firm understanding of the issues facing the people of this region. 

Bethel Park Native

Save for the four years in which he attended Penn State University in State College, Tom has spent his entire life residing and growing up in Bethel Park.  

A proud product of Bethel Park public schools (Class of 2013), one of the main reasons Tom ran for County Council in the first place was to be able to give back to the community that had given him so much - and to bring the balanced, pragmatic approach to government that he had learned growing up in an area that has always valued the quality of someone’s public service over their political party. If elected, Tom is looking to bring that same approach, and a healthy dose of Bethel Park values, to Harrisburg.

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