Paige Cognetti
American politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paige Gebhardt Cognetti (born August 27, 1980)[1] is an American politician serving since 2020 as the mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania. She is the first woman to be mayor of the city and won her seat in a special election.[2][3] A member of the Democratic Party, she ran her first Scranton mayoral campaign as an Independent.
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Independent (2019–2021)
Paige Cognetti | |
|---|---|
Cognetti in 2022 | |
| 36th Mayor of Scranton | |
| Assumed office January 6, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Wayne Evans (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 27, 1980 Eugene, Oregon, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic (before 2019, 2021–present) Independent (2019–2021) |
| Spouse | Ryan Cognetti |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Oregon (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
Early life and career
Cognetti was born in Eugene, Oregon. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon's Robert D. Clark Honors College with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and Romance languages, and earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.[citation needed]
Cognetti first worked as an English teacher in Japan with the JET Programme.[4] She was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaigns and served as an advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Obama's first term.[5][6]
Political career
Cognetti was appointed to the Scranton School Board in 2017,[7] but resigned in December 2018 to become a special assistant to Pennsylvania's then state auditor, Eugene DePasquale.[8] She has run on reform and pragmatism platforms; on the school board, she criticized Scranton's no-bid school bus contracts and unapproved payments to contractors.[9]
Mayor of Scranton
In 2019, Cognetti ran in the special election to finish the term of former Scranton mayor Bill Courtright, who had pleaded guilty to corruption charges in July that year.[10] A lifelong Democrat, Cognetti ran as an independent after she deemed the local Democratic Party's closed caucus system undemocratic. Her campaign focused on investments and budgets for local businesses, education, and infrastructure.[11] Cognetti won the special election with 36% of the vote.[3]
In 2021, Cognetti ran as a Democrat for reelection to a full term and won in a landslide.[12]
In 2024, President Joe Biden appointed Cognetti to the United States Trade Representative's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.[13]
2026 U.S. House campaign
On September 2, 2025, Cognetti announced her candidacy for Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district in 2026, aiming to unseat Republican incumbent Representative Rob Bresnahan.[14][15]
Cognetti identified as a progressive independent in 2019.[16] She is involved with the Majority Democrats PAC.[17]
Personal life
Electoral history
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Paige Cognetti | 5,849 | 36.52% | |
| Independent | Kyle Donahue | 3,588 | 22.40% | |
| Democratic | Chris Cullen | 2,567 | 16.03% | |
| Republican | Charlie Spano | 2,468 | 15.41% | |
| Independent | Giovanni Piccolino | 699 | 4.36% | |
| Independent | Gary St. Fleur | 384 | 2.40% | |
| Independent | John Goshleski | 76 | 0.47% | |
| Write-in | 387 | 2.42% | ||
| Total votes | 16,018 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Paige Cognetti (incumbent) | 7,870 | 71.36% | |
| Democratic | John Murray | 3,119 | 28.28% | |
| Write-in | 39 | 0.35% | ||
| Total votes | 11,028 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Paige Cognetti (incumbent) | 9,851 | 72.51% | |
| Republican | Darwin Lee Shaw II | 3,175 | 23.37% | |
| Write-in | 79 | 0.58% | ||
| Total votes | 13,585 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Paige Cognetti (incumbent) | 6,271 | 75.52 | |
| Democratic | Bob Sheridan | 1,865 | 22.46 | |
| Write-in | 168 | 2.02 | ||
| Total votes | 8,304 | 100.00 | ||