Chelsa Wagner

Wagner was first elected to the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 22nd Legislative District in 2006 with over 55% of the vote.[4] Her election marked the first time ever that a woman was elected to a full term in the State House representing the City of Pittsburgh.[5] In 2009, Wagner became the first Democratic legislator in Pennsylvania history to give birth while in office, and returned to Harrisburg with her 10-day-old son, Thaddeus, to attend to a months-long state budget impasse.[6][7] Wagner served on the Judiciary, Education, Transportation and Urban Affairs committees.[8] She served three terms, stepping down from the House when she was elected Allegheny County Controller.

Wagner is currently serving her second term as Allegheny County Controller. Wagner took office in 2012 as the first woman to hold the office and oversees Allegheny County's annual expenditures of over $1 billion.[9] Wagner made her office the first in Allegheny County government to provide paid family leave, an example which was followed by the County administration and the City of Pittsburgh,[10] and instituted a $15 per hour minimum wage for her employees.[11] Wagner has modernized her office's auditing functions to meet the highest professional standards and implemented technological improvements.

As Controller, she has led efforts to bring transparency and accountability to municipal authorities,[12] tax-exempt "purely public charities",[13] and water quality.[14]

She was named a Governing Magazine 2017 Women In Government Leadership honoree, joining the third cohort of twenty-five members, selected from over 100,000 women holding elected office nationally.[15]

Wagner helped resurrect the Pittsburgh Marathon from a five-year hiatus[16] to become a world-class event that also promotes health in local schools and communities.[17] She served on the board of the Pittsburgh Marathon from 2009 to 2019.[18]

Wagner challenged incumbent Republican State Representative Michael Diven in the 2006 General Election to serve the 22nd State House District which included parts of the South Side and North Side of the City of Pittsburgh as well as parts of the suburbs of Baldwin, Whitehall and Castle Shannon. Diven had held the seat for three terms but had recently changed his political party affiliation to Republican. Wagner won the election with 55% of the vote.

Wagner was unopposed for re-election in 2008.[19]

Wagner was unopposed for re-election in 2010.[20]

Wagner ran for Allegheny County Controller in 2011 and faced Valerie McDonald Roberts and George Matta in the Democratic Primary on May 17, 2011. She received 49% of the vote to McDonald Roberts' 28% and Matta's 23%.[21] She faced Republican Robert Howard in the General Election on November 8, 2011 and won with 61% of the vote.[22]

Wagner ran for re-election in 2015 against Mark Patrick Flaherty, who was also her predecessor in the office of Allegheny County Controller, in the May 19, 2015 Democratic Primary. Despite a contentious campaign and being outspent by a margin of 8:1 by Flaherty, who had the backing of the local Democratic Party establishment, Wagner won in a landslide victory. Wagner was unopposed in the General Election on November 3, 2015.[23]

Wagner was unopposed in the Democratic Primary for re-election on May 21, 2019, and was overwhelmingly re-elected in the General Election on November 6, 2019 receiving over 63% of the vote against Republican Brooke Nadonley,[24] an increase over her previous vote share of 61% in 2011.

On March 6, 2019, at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, Wagner was arrested and detained by the Detroit police as a result of the hotel staff's denying her husband, Khari Mosley, access to their hotel room.[25][26][27] On March 8, 2019, the Detroit police issued a warrant to file assault and battery charges against Wagner.[28] Wagner faced a felony count of resisting and obstructing police. Her husband, Mosley, faced a misdemeanor for disturbing the peace.[29][30] On March 19, 2019, Wagner and Mosley sent notice of their intentions to sue the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and Detroit police. The following day, on March 20, 2019, the Wayne County, Michigan Prosecutor's Office filed resisting and obstructing charges against Wagner and disturbing the peace charges against Mosley.[31] Wagner and Mosley have characterized the charges against them as retaliatory and part of a cover-up by the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and Detroit police.[32]

Mosley was acquitted of all charges on July 15, 2019 after the jury deliberated for only 45 minutes.[33] During Mosley's trial, it was revealed that Westin security had submitted a false police report and made false statements to the police, and Detroit police admitted they had proceeded on what they now know to be false information. Wagner and Mosley have maintained that this was a coordinated campaign of misinformation and obfuscation by the Detroit police and the Westin Cadillac Hotel, citing deleted or missing security footage and other evidence that was subject to a litigation hold.

On November 20, 2019, Wagner was also acquitted of the disturbing the peace charges and a mistrial was declared on the resisting and obstructing charge when the jury could not come to a unanimous decision. The jury was split with 9 jurors favoring acquittal and only 3 considering conviction.[34]

On December 20, 2019, prosecutors in Wayne County said they'd retry Wagner on the felony count of assaulting, resisting and obstructing a police officer. Barring a plea deal, Wagner's new trial is set for April 20, 2020.[35]