This week's biggest Winners & Losers

Meet the newest man of steel. Five-term state Rep. Ed Gainey solidified his victory in the race for Mayor of Pittsburgh Tuesday night, defeating Tony Moreno after taking down incumbent Bill Peduto in the primary last spring. Gainey, a Pittsburgh native who grew up in the city’s low-income housing, will now be the first Black mayor in the city’s history. He’ll look to fulfill his promises of addressing police reform, affordable housing and more.

Lawrence Tabas, chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, has to be happy this week. Republicans are poised to sweep the state’s appellate court elections, with three Republicans already having won seats on the state Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court. Republican Commonwealth Court Judge Drew Crompton is also in the lead for the last-remaining Commonwealth Court seat, leaving Republicans in a very good electoral position heading into the 2022 midterms. They’ll be hoping they can replicate this success when the governor’s office and a U.S. Senate seat are on the ballot next year.

The doctor is in. The Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity, a new primary care clinic located in North Philadelphia, opened its doors Wednesday to help underserved communities. Stanford made a name for herself last year while running COVID testing clinics in Black and brown neighborhoods through her Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. This new clinic, funded by private dollars, grants and donations, will look to be a model for the city to address health care disparities in communities of color.

Things just keep getting worse for Sean Parnell. Yes, the former Army ranger and current Republican U.S. Senate candidate received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, but since that time, things have been moving in quite the wrong direction. Parnell had to grapple with criticisms from GOP opponent Jeff Bartos over protection from abuse orders that were previously sought by Parnell’s wife. And now Parnell’s estranged wife is alleging in sworn testimony that Parnell choked her and struck the couple’s children – allegations which Parnell denies. Not a good look for the U.S. Senate hopeful.

Let’s get the vax straight. Late last week, Heather Schaeffer and Benjamin Lapp, two Lancaster City police officers, were fired for turning in fake COVID-19 vaccination cards. While the department says vaccination is recommended but not required, the two violated the city’s reporting policy and standards of conduct. Schaeffer reportedly got blank vaccination cards from her cousin and sold one to Lapp for $20. Considering the vaccines are free to everyone, and the fact that they lost their jobs, that’s a tall price to pay.

Eric Papenfuse’s hopes for a third term as Harrisburg’s mayor got dealt a devastating, and perhaps final, blow this week when voters rejected his write-in campaign and chose Harrisburg City Council President Wanda Williams instead, with Williams winning 65% of the vote. Williams beat Papenfuse in the Democratic primary earlier this year, leading Papenfuse to launch a last-ditch effort to hold onto the mayor’s office. Things got ugly as November neared, with both candidates trading attacks, and mysterious text messages surfacing, in attempts to persuade voters. Papenfuse came up short in the general election, but things aren’t all bad for the soon-to-be ex-mayor. He’s got a pretty sweet bookstore to fall back on.