Westmoreland district attorney race sees challenger Ziccarelli outspend Peck 9-to-1

Oct. 23—Nicole Ziccarelli, the Republican candidate with designs on unseating six-term Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck, holds a substantial edge in campaign fundraising and spending heading into the Nov. 2 election.

The lastest campaign finance reports, filed Friday, show Ziccarelli since June has spent more than $141,000 — an amount that is nearly 10 times the $15,000 Peck has expended so far during the race.

From June 7 through Oct. 18, Ziccarelli added more than $96,000 to a campaign war chest that already had nearly $66,000 heading into the general election season. Peck's campaign carried just less than $1,000 from the spring and raised $31,600 this summer and fall.

"Money is a distinct advantage," said political observer Joseph Sabino Mistick, an associate professor at Duquense University School of Law. "It allows you to use different kinds of media to contact voters more often. An incumbent has the ability to get publicity every day, but money allows challengers to level the playing field. It can create a more balanced race."

Ziccarelli, 40, is a private practice lawyer from Lower Burrell who gained political traction last fall in her bid to oust state Sen. Jim Brewster, a McKeesport Democrat. Ziccarelli lost by 69 votes in a race ultimately decided by court decisions in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties over how ballots were counted.

Throughout the late summer and into fall, Ziccarelli continued to raise money and has bought local television ads and other forms of mass media advertising. Peck, as in past races, is not expected to pursue a major media buy and instead focus on some targeted newspaper ads, yard signs and potentially mailers sent out to voters in the waning days of the race.

It's a strategy that has worked for him before, said Paul Adams, a political science professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and former vice chairman of the county's Democratic Committee.

"He doesn't do TV or radio. If he wanted to fundraise he could keep up and surpass her, but he just really doesn't want to do that," Adams said.

Peck, 74, of New Kensington was first appointed by county judges in 1994 to serve as district attorney. Six times has been elected to four-year terms in races that rarely featured a well-financed opponent.

Ziccarelli raised more than $1.3 million in 2020 for her race against Brewster and continued to fundraise throughout the winter and spring in her bid to oust Peck.

According to the campaign finance reports, most of the money Peck raised so far came from small donations ranging between $50 and $100 — and much of it from local lawyers and politically active friends. He loaned the campaign $6,500.

Ziccarelli received dozens of donations of more than $500, including several big money contributors from local office holders and fellow lawyers, both in law firms locally and in other parts of Pennsylvania.

Money isn't everything in a campaign, according to G. Terry Madonna, a senior fellow in residence at Millersville University of Pennsylvania and formerly a professor of public affairs and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College.

"It depends on how much money is spent, but you can still do a lot by having a strong organization on a county level. I always thought it was a combination of both, but you still need to have the money," Madonna said.

How much more money the candidates raise and spend over the final two weeks of the race won't be made public until after the election.

Records show both have limited funds on hand for the waning days of the race — Ziccarelli with about $20,600, and Peck with $17,500.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .