Pittsburgh mayoral candidate debate will air on Channel 11

PITTSBURGH — In less than two weeks, Pittsburgh voters will head to the polls and pick their next mayor.

Republican Tony Moreno and Democrat Corey O’Connor each have their own visions for the future of our city.

They shared their ideas in a debate that Lisa Sylvester moderated along with Chief Investigative Reporter Rick Earle.

In their last debate before election day, Pittsburgh’s mayoral candidates are making their final pitches to voters.

“I believe in our city. I believe in its future. and I believe that we deserve better,” O’Connor said.

“Somehow our government has gone out of control and they’re not honest to us and I’m trying to bring honesty and love back to the city of Pittsburgh,” Moreno said.

Both will hit on major issues facing our city, including whether your taxes will go up.

Moderator: “Will you raise taxes if you are elected mayor?”

Moreno: “I won’t raise taxes. We don’t need to raise taxes.”

O’Connor: “At this point, we don’t even know the numbers.”

They will also discuss violent crime and how to stop it.

“When you’re investing, invest in organizations and programs that have shown success. The Reach program, which is out in our communities, uses our community members to help stop violence in our neighborhoods, provide services to kids and families that are going down the wrong path,” O’Connor said.

“They steadily take money out of the police training fund and that leaves us without the police officers required to serve our community. What they did with that money was put it in the stop the violence fund, which has very, very successful units inside of it, but there’s a lot of waste there,” Moreno said.

They will share their thoughts on affordable housing.

“My partnership with the nonprofits are going to be in training programs that they sponsor in our communities, for trades, for childcare. Then we use that to build a movement inside of our communities, allowing them to build their own housing,” Moreno said.

“So you already have the housing opportunity fund. But then go a little bit further, when you look at density, and it’s actually in a bill that would include inclusionary zoning and inclusionary zoning is a tool that can be used in certain markets. Citywide, it does not work.” O’Connor said.

We also touched on the city’s aging fleet, the NFL draft in Pittsburgh and more.

You can watch the debate this Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on Channel 11 and again on our WPXI Now streaming app.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2025 Cox Media Group