Michael M. Dawida (born September 4, 1949) is a former Allegheny County Commissioner, member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

, and the

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. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

Education

A native of Carrick and a graduate of

Carrick High School Carrick High School is a Public school (government funded), public school in the Carrick (Pittsburgh), Carrick neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. Carrick is one of ten high schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and one ...

, he earned a history degree from

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1971. From 1969 until 1977, Dawida was a childcare worker, working especially with delinquent teens and drug addicts. In 1977, he earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Hamline University School of Law Hamline University School of Law was a private law school affiliated with Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1972 as the Midwestern School of Law by a group of legal professionals. In 1976, Midwestern School of Law w ...

Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Senate

He represented the

26th 26 (twenty-six) is the natural number following 25 and preceding 27. In mathematics *26 is the seventh discrete semiprime (2 \times 13) and the fifth with 2 as the lowest non-unitary factor thus of the form (2.q), where q is a higher prime. ...

and 36th legislative districts in the

from 1979 to 1988. He represented the 43rd senatorial district in the

from 1989 to 1996.

Allegheny County Commissioner

He was an Allegheny County Commissioner, alongside Bob Cranmer and Larry Dunn from 1996, until December 1999, when the Board of Commissioners was replaced with a County Executive as part of Allegheny County's Home Rule Charter. Cranmer split with his Republican running mate Larry Dunn over major differences concerning the managing of the county government, and formed a close governing alliance with

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

commissioner Dawida. During their administration Mike Dawida and Bob Cranmer oversaw the rehabilitation and restoration of the famed

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

Allegheny County Jail designed in the late 1800s. The vacant and deteriorating structure was converted to house the new combined home of the juvenile and adult family sections of Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. The $46 million spent on the renovation project was nearly 23 times the original cost of both of the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

masterpieces, the jail and county courthouse. Cranmer and Mike Dawida worked cooperatively to achieve their city-county goals, and as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette put it: "The partnership held strong through decisions that got county government back on track." The combined leadership of Cranmer, Dawida, and Mayor Tom Murphy ( Thomas J. Murphy, Jr.) led to a building boom 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 ...

dubbed "Renaissance III" that was a catalyst for how the city would be viewed a decade later when it was selected to host the 2009 G-20 summit, led by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. The Post-Gazette commented in 1998 that, "Allegheny County Commissioners Bob Cranmer and Mike Dawida understand the importance of a strong urban core and, through their partnership, have helped the mayor find ways to do what lesser leadership would considerable unthinkable...It is a meeting of such focused minds and willing spirits that stands to take Pittsburgh into a new era. Call it Renaissance III or call it just a better place to live, this is the blueprint of a renewable city that more people will be proud to call home." In 1999 he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for County Executive, losing to

Cyril Wecht Cyril Harrison Wecht (March 20, 1931 – May 13, 2024) was an American forensic pathology, forensic pathologist. He was president of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American College of Legal Medicine, and headed the board ...

, who subsequently lost to Republican Jim Roddey in the general election. He is a professor at

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (abbreviated as PennWest California) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in California, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus had an enrollment of 2,717 as of fall 2024. Founded in 1852 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawida, Michael Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators 1949 births Living people Hamline University School of Law alumni Allegheny County Councilmembers (Pennsylvania) 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly