Dziados leads in Democratic primary for chance to unseat Reschenthaler in Congress
Apr. 23—Retired U.S. Army veteran Chris Dziados, with overwhelming support from his home county, appeared ahead in the race to secure the Democratic nomination in the 14th Congressional District.
According to the unofficial results, Dziados will face incumbent Rep. Guy Reschenthaler in November.
Dziados, 43, of South Strabane, Washington County, had nearly 52% of the vote. Ken Bach, 56, of Smithton received 48%.
Dziados did not offer a victory declaration Tuesday evening but was preparing a message for a potential fall campaign.
"Voters are tired of the toxic rhetoric. They want someone who is calm, cool and collected," Dziados said. "People want stability, and we'll try to convince independent and moderate Republican voters to vote for me (in the fall)."
Bach declined to concede, citing incomplete results on the state election reporting website.
By 10 p.m., Bach was behind by fewer than 2,000 votes.
"I appeared to have support, but we'll need to see these numbers," Bach said.
The district spans six counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It stretches around the northern, eastern and southern portions of Westmoreland County and includes all of Washington, Fayette, Greene, Indiana and Somerset counties. Democrats account for 37% of registered voters in the district. About two-thirds of the district's voters live in Westmoreland and Washington counties.
Bach handily won in Westmoreland County, and his margin of victory there was just fewer than 10,000 votes, not enough to overcome Dziados' lead established in Washington and sustained in the district's other four, more rural counties.
Dziados won in Washington by nearly 14,000 votes.
Dziados served multiple deployments to Iraq, served on staff for the undersecretary of defense and for the last year as a member of the U.S. Space Force staff. A native of Indiana County, he returned to Southwestern Pennsylvania this year after he decided to run for Congress.
Reschenthaler has served in Congress since 2019 and was unopposed in the Republican primary.
Dziados cast himself as a pro-choice candidate who has said he chose to run for Congress following the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol and said supports the agenda set by President Joe Biden. He said he favors increasing security along the U.S. southern border and supported financial aid for Ukraine and Israel.
He concedes there is work to do heading into the fall campaign, where he faces a substantial financial deficit.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, as of April 3, Dziados raised $30,700 during the early months of his campaign and had just more than $12,400 in the bank heading into the general election.
Reschenthaler's campaign raised more than $1.6 million during the first four months of the year and had $580,000 remaining in his campaign coffers as of the first week in April.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
