Pennsylvania’s municipal primary election is a week from Tuesday and some of the most important races take place for mayor of Keystone State cities, boroughs and towns.

PoliticsPA will count down to the May 20 election by previewing the key races throughout the Commonwealth.

• May 12: Scranton
• May 13: Allentown
• May 14: Harrisburg
• May 15: Erie
• May 16: Pittsburgh
• May 19: Lancaster
• May 20: Bethlehem

Today, we take a look at the mayoral race in the northwest corner of the Keystone State – Erie.

Incumbent Joe Schember is seeking a third term and faces primary challenges from Daria Devlin and Sheila Woeger who argue that the city needs new leadership. The primary winner will likely face Republican Matthew Thomas in the general election. Democrats hold a significant 2-to-1 voter registration advantage in the city. No Republican has been elected mayor of Erie since Charles Williamson in 1961.

Joe Schember

• Party: Democrat
• Experience: Mayor, City of Erie (2018-present); PNC Bank Regional Manager
• Priorities. Improve the City’s finances; Reduce crime; Support our businesses; Grow jobs; Increase quality housing and homeownership; Transform the Miller Brothers building into the new Public Safety Complex; Implement city plans to reduce crash fatalities, expand pedestrian access, install bike lanes, preserve our history, and improve parks. Ensure the sustainability of community policing initiatives like the Police Athletic League and the COP initiative
• Education: B.A., Gannon University; M.A, University of Dayton; MBA, Gannon.
• Quotable: “Despite the pandemic, despite the societal issues, and despite the financial challenges facing the city, my administration has made significant progress in positioning Erie for a more prosperous future. I remain committed to my mission: Build Opportunity, Restore Hope, Transform Erie. In my first six-plus years, I have remained open, honest, transparent, and accessible, and that will continue as long as I am Mayor.”
• Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Daria Devlin

• Party: Democrat
• Experience: Director of Social Impact for the Hamot Health Foundation. Founded the Partnership for Erie’s Public Schools, and established the Erie Center for Arts and Technology (ECAT). Former member Erie School Board.
• Priorities. We must balance housing supply and demand while stabilizing our neighborhoods with access to housing opportunities for all. We need to create pathways for upward economic mobility by retaining and growing our local businesses, incentivizing new, innovative industry growth in our region. We must create opportunities for civic engagement, career exploration, and innovation to support youth across the city and ensure Erie is a city where the next generation can thrive. It’s past time to balance the budget, improve services provided, and prioritize efficiency across city government.
• Education: B.A, Colgate University ’99. M.Ed., PennWest Edinboro ’16.
• Quotable: “The City is on the verge of a financial crisis and must seek long-term solutions for sustainability. We must think differently about budgeting and capital planning and implement key financial controls to mitigate risk.”
• Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram

Sheila Woeger

• Party: Democrat
• Experience: Retired teacher.
• Priorities. “It is imperative that every tax payer dollar is spent wisely, efficiently and accounted for. It is also important that the city doesn’t just talk transparency, but to be actively engaged in it. The taxpayer has every right to know where the money is being spent and every right to know request should be transparent in its administration.”
• Education: B.A, Gannon University ’07
• Quotable: “As a candidate for mayor, I do not bring leadership skills as warranted by the world system. I’ve been denied equal opportunity. What I do possess is the wisdom of God who gives to all men liberally. The love of God which makes me to even love my enemy, and gives me empathy — because I’ve experienced homelessness, lived in housing that should have been condemned, and as a new homeowner, went seven days without water, here in Erie. There are people in this city currently living in those conditions; I want to change that.
• Links: Website

Matthew Thomas

• Party: Republican
• Experience: Attorney.
• Priorities. Clean up the streets (literally and figuratively), untie the hands of our city’s police force and have them push back — hard — on crime, including (yes) drug crimes and domestic abuse. Increase police funding. Work with the federal government to get anyone out of our city who isn’t supposed to be here. No one who commits violent crimes or transports drugs into our neighborhoods should continue to walk our streets.
• Education: B.A., Gannon University ’09.
• Quotable: “If you care about the city, consider a change of direction and, yes, maybe a change away from the political party that has ruled, uncontested, since the mid-1960s. Let’s go find the future.”
• Links: Website

Media

• Schember, Devlin raise big money in Erie mayor’s race. Here’s the breakdown. | Erie-Times News
• The Race for Erie Mayor: 3 questions for Democrats Schember, Devlin, Woeger | Erie Times-News
• The Race for Erie Mayor: 3 questions for Republican Matthew Thomas | Erie Times-News
• Democrats Devlin, Schember spar over city of Erie’s finances as mayor’s race heats up. | Erie Times-News
• Daria Devlin: Erie, It’s time for change and real solutions to serious problems. | Erie Times-News
• Sheila Ellyn Woeger: Erie needs a paradigm shift – a government for the people. | Erie Times-News
• Matthew Thomas: City of Erie is a ‘dead man walking,’ but solutions not hard. | Erie Times-News
• Eric Democratic Party committee members endorse Devlin in mayor’s race. | Erie Times-News
• The Politics of Style: Erie’s 2025 Mayoral Race | Erie Reader

Debate