Daniel Onorato (born February 5, 1961) is an American Democratic politician from the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He served as the

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of Allegheny County from 2004 to 2012, and in

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, he was the Democratic nominee for

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. He lost to

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...

Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former prosecutor who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was also attorney general of Pen ...

in the general election. Onorato is currently the chief corporate affairs officer at Highmark Health.

Early life, education and family

A life-long resident of Allegheny County, Onorato attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, where he earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

in 1983. He worked several years as a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

(CPA) before continuing his

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at the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) is the law school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and became a charter member of the Association of American ...

, earning a

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in 1989. Onorato and his wife Shelly reside in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

's Brighton Heights neighborhood with their children: Kate, Emily, and Danny. In 2012, Onorato began working for Highmark, where he is the vice president of corporate communications and external affairs.

Political career

Onorato practiced as a private attorney until he was elected to 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 sys ...

in 1991, when he defeated District 1 incumbent Bernard J. Regan in the primary election. He served two terms on the council before being elected Allegheny County Controller in 2000. In 2003, he defeated Jim Roddey for the position of Allegheny County executive. He was named runner up for the 2003 Politician of the Year by the political website

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, who noted his youthful energy and his fundraising power.

Allegheny County drink tax controversy

In late 2007 Allegheny County received permission from the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

to pursue increased taxation of poured alcohol and rental cars to subsidize the

Port Authority of Allegheny County Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) is the public agency responsible for most public transportation services in the Greater Pittsburgh region in Pennsylvania. It is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 20th-largest in t ...

. Members of the Allegheny County Council and Onorato believed that such a tax was preferable to increasing county property taxes. After the 10% tax on poured alcohol passed, Allegheny County bar and restaurant owners protested the new tax, claiming that it would hurt that business. Courts threw out a lawsuit by bar and restaurant owners challenging the legality of the drink tax, but the litigants sought a referendum overturning the tax in the November 2008 general election. Onorato subsequently withheld the funds raised by the drink tax from the Port Authority, demanding that the transit agency first restructure its labor costs.

2008 presidential election

He announced his endorsement of

Senator Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in her 2008 presidential bid on March 14, 2008, saying, "Hillary Clinton has the experience and the determination to clean up the mess in Washington and deliver results."

2010 gubernatorial campaign

Onorato won the Democratic nomination in the 2010 election for

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

on May 18, 2010.
/ref> Onorato had more than $4 million for a campaign left over from his re-election bid. He also received media attention when the G-20 Summit was held in Pittsburgh. He defeated State Senator Anthony H. Williams, Anthony Williams,

Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

Jack Wagner, and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel. He was defeated by Republican

in the general election with 45.5% to 54.5% of the vote, and lost his home county. A large part of his loss resulted from his role in

US Airways US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...

leaving Pittsburgh for Charlotte, leading to a direct loss of 12,000 jobs in the Pittsburgh area, and an indirect loss estimate of 50,000 jobs. The County's taxation of passengers to pay down airport debt under Onorato's lead as County Executive left US Airways in a difficult competitive pricing disadvantage compared to other airlines and hubs. Onorato called US Airways CEO Doug Parker's 'bluff' to utilize a contractual agreement to cancel leases, and US Airways ultimately wound down hub operations at the airpor

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Onorato, Dan 1961 births Living people Politicians from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Democrats Pittsburgh City Council members American accountants Candidates in the 2010 United States elections Pennsylvania lawyers Smeal College of Business alumni University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) executives