Corey O'Connor is an American politician serving as the Allegheny County controller in Pennsylvania since Jul 10, 2022. For the 10 years prior to becoming controller, he was a member of the

Pittsburgh City Council The Pittsburgh City Council serves as the legislative body in the City of Pittsburgh. It consists of nine members. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts. The city operates under a mayor-council syst ...

and represented District 5.

Family and education

O'Connor was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, to Bob and Judy Levine O'Connor. He is the youngest brother of Terrence O'Connor, a priest, and Heidy Garth. Like his son, Bob O'Connor also represented District 5 as a member of Pittsburgh City Council from 1992 to 2003, including a four year stint as council president; he was then elected Pittsburgh mayor in 2005, but six months after taking office in January 2006, he was diagnosed with a rare brain cancer and died seven weeks later. In his father's memory, Corey and his family established the Bob O'Connor Memorial Fund. To support the fund, they host the yearly "O'Connor Cookie Cruise" on the

Gateway Clipper Fleet The Gateway Clipper Fleet, founded by John E. Connelly, is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based fleet of riverboats. The fleet cruises the three rivers of Pittsburgh - the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio. The fleet is named after the city of Pit ...

, which is attended by thousands. O'Connor graduated from Central Catholic High School and earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education from

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

. He married Katie Stohlberg on June 29, 2013, and they reside in Pittsburgh's Swisshelm Park neighborhood with their daughter.

Career

O'Connor has served as the Pittsburgh City Council member for District 5 since January 3, 2012. His district includes the neighborhoods of Glen Hazel,

Greenfield Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Engineering and Business * Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation * Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist * Greenf ...

, Hays, Hazelwood, Lincoln Place,

New Homestead New Homestead is a neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger c ...

, Regent Square, Squirrel Hill South, and

Swisshelm Park Swisshelm Park is a neighborhood located in the southeast corner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is represented oPittsburgh City Councilby Corey O'Connor. Swisshelm Park houses PBF 19 Engine, and is covered by PBP Zone 4 and the Bureau of EMS Me ...

. O'Connor received national media coverage for his response to the

Pittsburgh synagogue shooting The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting was an antisemitic terrorist attack which took place at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The congregation, al ...

which happened in his district. He subsequently co-sponsored or supported gun reform legislation. He has also advocated nationally for stricter gun ordinances. In 2022, O'Connor was nominated by Governor

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...

and then confirmed by a

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealt ...

committee to become the next Allegheny County Controller, filling the vacancy left when

Chelsa Wagner Chelsa L. Wagner (born July 24, 1977) is an American politician currently serving as a Judge in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. She previously served as the Allegheny County Controller. She resigned her position at the beginning of 2 ...

vacated the office on Jan 3, 2022, after being elected in 2021 to serve as a judge the county's Court of Common Pleas. On July 10, 2022, O'Connor resigned as a member of city council and then was immediately sworn in as county controller. O'Connor's vacated city councilmember position was succeeded by Democrat Barbara Greenwood Warwick in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on November 8th 2022.

References

External links

* 21st-century American politicians Pittsburgh City Council members Politicians from Pittsburgh Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh) alumni {{Pennsylvania-politician-stub