Now that Republicans have won control of government in Washington, they’re shifting their sights to a progressive enclave in Pennsylvania.

Major donors to President Donald Trump are pouring money into the race to unseat Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, lining up behind his Democratic primary opponent, Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor.

Three months ahead of the primary, the GOP donors have already funneled more than $130,000 into the race, constituting more than 20 percent of O’Connor’s January haul. At least five Trump and Republican donors have maxed out to O’Connor’s campaign, helping him to outraise Gainey last month with $464,000 to Gainey’s $23,600, according to January campaign finance reports.

While Gainey has taken outspoken progressive stances on issues from housing to immigration, the right-leaning donors see O’Connor as more of a blank slate, said Tanisha Long, a Gainey supporter and an Allegheny County political director for Straight Ahead, a criminal justice project of the Abolitionist Law Center.

“He won’t outright embrace those people, but he will very happily accept checks.”

“A lot of the Republicans,” said Long, referring to the donors, “are running with the fact that Corey doesn’t really take hard stances on things.”

She said O’Connor is being politically delicate but appears willing to take the cash: “He won’t outright embrace those people, but he will very happily accept checks.”

In small communities like Pittsburgh, the relatively small donor pool and a weak Republican Party means it’s common for Republican donors to get involved in Democratic races. The influx of GOP money in a primary, however, is unusual for Pittsburgh, Long said.

Democratic Pittsburgh City Councilmember Barb Warwick, who represents O’Connor’s old city council district and is backing Gainey, found the GOP money in the mayor’s race particularly disconcerting. Trump’s current approach — fostering a developer and tech plutocracy — has already been a feature of right-wing Pittsburgh politics, she said.

“It makes sense that they are putting money toward getting rid of him,” Warwick said of the donors and Gainey. “It doesn’t surprise me that the same folks who are trying to overstep........

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