An internal poll from the Ed Gainey campaign shows the incumbent Democratic mayor of Pittsburgh with a 7-point lead over challenger Corey O’Connor in the race for the mayor of Pennsylvania’s second-largest city.

The poll, conducted between April 21 and 24 by Upswing Research, gives Gainey a 49-42% advantage over the Allegheny County Controller, while also providing a strong approval rating of 55 percent among likely Democratic primary voters.

“Thanks to our people-powered movement, our campaign has all of the momentum in this race,” said Gainey. “We’ve proven again and again since 2021 that when we come together — across race, across class, religion, age, across every line that’s ever been used to divide us — we are unstoppable. We’re ready to mass mobilize and turn out every vote to keep building a city for all.”

According to the poll, Gainey enjoys a lead among the coalition of voters that put him in the mayor’s office in the last election: Black voters (82-8%), liberals and Democratic Socialists (58-34%), and voters under 40 years old (62-31%).

Upswing Research & Strategy, an opinion research, communications, and strategy firm supporting Democratic candidates and progressive causes, and its founder, Ethan Smith, played a prominent role for other Pittsburgh progressives in securing their seats. Smith worked on Rep. Summer Lee’s congressional campaign in 2022, as well as Sara Innamorato’s run to the Allegheny County Executive position

Upswing Research & Strategy conducted a survey among 402 likely Democratic primary voters citywide from April 21 – 24, 2025. The data is subject to a margin of error of +/- 4.9% at the 95 percent confidence interval. We collected interviews via mixed mode methodology, with 67% of interviews from live calls over landlines and cell phones and 33% over SMS, also known as text to web.