2003 Allegheny County Executive election

The 2003 Allegheny County Executive election was held on November 4, 2003. Incumbent Jim Roddey, the first elected County Executive, ran for re-election to a second term. He was challenged by County Controller Dan Onorato, the Democratic nominee. Onorato defeated Roddey by a wide margin, winning his first term as County Executive with 57 percent of the vote.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Dan Onorato, County Controller^[1]

Declined

Jack Wagner, State Senator^[2]
Cyril Wecht, County Coroner, 1999 Democratic nominee for County Executive^[3]

Primary results

Democratic primary results^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan Onorato	100,780	100.00%
Total votes			100,780	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Jim Roddey, incumbent County Executive^[5]

Primary results

Republican primary results^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Roddey (inc.)	43,135	100.00%
Total votes			43,135	100.00%

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Dan Onorato (D)	Jim Roddey (R)	Other / Undecided
SurveyUSA^[6]	October 30 – November 1, 2003	566 (CV)	± 4.2%	54%	42%	4%

Results

2003 Allegheny County Executive election^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan Onorato	200,201	57.48%
	Republican	Jim Roddey (inc.)	146,914	42.18%
	Write-in		1,197	0.34%
Total votes			348,312	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Notes

^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
CV – certain voters
V – unclear

References

^ O'Toole, James; Cohan, Jeffrey (February 8, 2003). "Onorato in executive's race". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. D1. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
^ O'Toole, James (January 26, 2003). "Wagner passes on run for exec". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. A13. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
^ Cohan, Jeffrey (December 6, 2002). "Wecht won't run for county exec". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. B15. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
^ ^a ^b "Allegheny County Official Election Results". Allegheny County Elections Division. Archived from the original on November 13, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
^ O'Toole, James (January 28, 2003). "Roddey starts re-election bid". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. B1. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
^ "Allegheny Voters Dump Roddey, Elect Dem Onorato County Exec" (PDF). November 4, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
^ "Allegheny County Official Election Results". Allegheny County Elections Division. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2025.

[key-6] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
CV – certain voters
V – unclear

[1] O'Toole, James; Cohan, Jeffrey (February 8, 2003). "Onorato in executive's race". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. D1. Retrieved July 7, 2025.

[2] O'Toole, James (January 26, 2003). "Wagner passes on run for exec". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. A13. Retrieved July 7, 2025.

[3] Cohan, Jeffrey (December 6, 2002). "Wecht won't run for county exec". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. B15. Retrieved July 7, 2025.

[primary_results-4] "Allegheny County Official Election Results". Allegheny County Elections Division. Archived from the original on November 13, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2025.

[5] O'Toole, James (January 28, 2003). "Roddey starts re-election bid". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. B1. Retrieved July 7, 2025.

[7] "Allegheny Voters Dump Roddey, Elect Dem Onorato County Exec" (PDF). November 4, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2025.

[8] "Allegheny County Official Election Results". Allegheny County Elections Division. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2025.

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