The Republican Party of Penn Hills has tapped Jim McCollum to challenge the municipality's first-term incumbent mayor in the November general election.
The GOP committee last week unanimously selected McCollum, 56, to run against Democrat Anthony DeLuca Jr., after Robert Larko withdrew his name from the ballot so he could focus on running for Penn Hills School Board. Larko won the GOP nomination for mayor with 163 write-in votes in the spring primary.
"One of the biggest problems I see is that the current administration is not running this municipality like a business," said McCollum, a network communications sales engineer for Sprint. "They talk about economic development, but where is it?
"There are no major housing developments taking place, and if you drive along our major streets, you'll see lots of retail stores that have closed. Rather than attracting residents, we're losing them."
McCollum has been involved in ministry at the Covenant Church of Pittsburgh for more than 15 years and currently is an associate pastor. He moved to Penn Hills in 1984 with his wife and children after serving in the Air Force and working in upstate New York.
While voter registration in the municipality is lopsided in favor of the incumbent -- there are 20,803 registered Democrats compared to 7,982 Republicans -- GOP officials are optimistic.
Party members plan to focus on door-to-door canvassing to get their message out to the public, said Mike Myers, the municipality's GOP chairman.
In addition to McCollum and Larko, the other Republicans on the ballot in Penn Hills this fall are Margie Krogh, an incumbent school director; Sam DiFatta, who is running for municipal controller; and Joseph "Mickey" O'Connor and Heather Hoolahan, who are seeking council seats.
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