Biography
Dan Onorato was born and raised in Pennsylvania and lived in a working class neighborhood on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Dan’s parents did not go to college, but they dreamed their children could. His father worked as a mechanic at the Allis-Chalmers factory, while his mother worked at a local elementary school. Dan’s parents raised him to believe that family and faith are always the most important, and when times are tough everyone must pitch in.
Dan paid his way through Penn State by working during the summer in building maintenance and retail. He graduated with a degree in accounting. After working as a CPA, Dan decided to continue his education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he earned a law degree.
Dan worked several years in the private sector, but was inspired by his hometown, Pittsburgh, to run for public office. Dan felt that Pittsburgh was falling behind because plants were shutting down, hardworking people were losing their jobs and politicians were out of touch.
In 1991, Onorato ran for City Council against an entrenched politician. Many considered the campaign improbable and nobody thought that Dan could win at all. He did not come from a political family and did not have much money, like other politicians. Dan had an unmatched work ethic with new and fresh ideas. He would go around day and night listening to the voters and sharing his plans for bringing Pittsburgh back to where it should be. When Dan won City Council seat, he shocked the political establishment and when he ran again in 1995, he easily won.
While Dan was on City Council, Dan fought hard to make the city safer by putting more police officers on the streets. Dan also fought to build private-public partnerships to save assets like the City Zoo and to pass a tax cut to help out small businesses create new jobs. Dan observed first-hand that Allegheny County could be more efficiently managed along with the taxpayers’ dollars being more protected.
In 1999, Dan ran for Allegheny County Controller. He successfully won and spent four years as the city’s watchdog against wasteful spending and fraud. Dan found organizations that abused the taxpayers’ money and also exposed a big health care provider for giving hundreds of thousands of the taxpayers’ dollars to top executives as bonuses.
In 2003, Dan ran for Executive of Allegheny County against an incumbent Republican. With this victory, Dan would bring a new, more fiscally responsible approach on governing Pennsylvania’s second largest county of 1.2 million residents. Once in office, he immediately executed smart reforms to eliminate waste. Dan also worked to turn Western Pennsylvania, which was once a symbol for America’s declining manufacturing sector, into a hub for 21st-century jobs.
With Dan always looking for inventive ways for Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh to combine services, he had saved the region’s taxpayers millions of dollars. In order to keep county finances in order, Dan had reduced the county’s payroll by hundred of positions and also cut property taxes twice. He took action to prevent dramatic swings in property values and eliminated any backdoor property increases that would occur. Since Dan took office in Allegheny County, it is the only county in the region to hold the line on property taxes for the past seven years.
While Dan was County Executive, he worked to help the private sector thrive more and create thousands of good-paying jobs in state-of-the-art fields such as energy, health care, finance, advanced manufacturing and higher education. He has promoted zealously programs to help women, minority-owned businesses thrive and people who had lost their jobs. For the people who had lost their jobs, Dan set up a worker retraining program at the local community college so that those people can get back on their feet. This program is tuition-free and has already helped hundreds of workers who were laid-off get 21st-century jobs.
Dan has decided to run for Governor because he feels Pennsylvania’s families need a government that is more efficient and more responsive to the needs of the people. Since Dan is a public official, he has never settled for the status quo, and as Governor, he will bring innovative ideas that will reform the government, clean up Harrisburg, and create new 21st-century jobs, strengthen our educational system and invest in new energy saving solutions.
Currently Dan Onorato lives in the Brighton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh with his wife Shelly. Dan and Shelly met while he attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. They have three children: Kate, 19; Emily, 16; and Danny, 13. The family attends St. Cyril’s Catholic Church.
Dan paid his way through Penn State by working during the summer in building maintenance and retail. He graduated with a degree in accounting. After working as a CPA, Dan decided to continue his education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he earned a law degree.
Dan worked several years in the private sector, but was inspired by his hometown, Pittsburgh, to run for public office. Dan felt that Pittsburgh was falling behind because plants were shutting down, hardworking people were losing their jobs and politicians were out of touch.
In 1991, Onorato ran for City Council against an entrenched politician. Many considered the campaign improbable and nobody thought that Dan could win at all. He did not come from a political family and did not have much money, like other politicians. Dan had an unmatched work ethic with new and fresh ideas. He would go around day and night listening to the voters and sharing his plans for bringing Pittsburgh back to where it should be. When Dan won City Council seat, he shocked the political establishment and when he ran again in 1995, he easily won.
While Dan was on City Council, Dan fought hard to make the city safer by putting more police officers on the streets. Dan also fought to build private-public partnerships to save assets like the City Zoo and to pass a tax cut to help out small businesses create new jobs. Dan observed first-hand that Allegheny County could be more efficiently managed along with the taxpayers’ dollars being more protected.
In 1999, Dan ran for Allegheny County Controller. He successfully won and spent four years as the city’s watchdog against wasteful spending and fraud. Dan found organizations that abused the taxpayers’ money and also exposed a big health care provider for giving hundreds of thousands of the taxpayers’ dollars to top executives as bonuses.
In 2003, Dan ran for Executive of Allegheny County against an incumbent Republican. With this victory, Dan would bring a new, more fiscally responsible approach on governing Pennsylvania’s second largest county of 1.2 million residents. Once in office, he immediately executed smart reforms to eliminate waste. Dan also worked to turn Western Pennsylvania, which was once a symbol for America’s declining manufacturing sector, into a hub for 21st-century jobs.
With Dan always looking for inventive ways for Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh to combine services, he had saved the region’s taxpayers millions of dollars. In order to keep county finances in order, Dan had reduced the county’s payroll by hundred of positions and also cut property taxes twice. He took action to prevent dramatic swings in property values and eliminated any backdoor property increases that would occur. Since Dan took office in Allegheny County, it is the only county in the region to hold the line on property taxes for the past seven years.
While Dan was County Executive, he worked to help the private sector thrive more and create thousands of good-paying jobs in state-of-the-art fields such as energy, health care, finance, advanced manufacturing and higher education. He has promoted zealously programs to help women, minority-owned businesses thrive and people who had lost their jobs. For the people who had lost their jobs, Dan set up a worker retraining program at the local community college so that those people can get back on their feet. This program is tuition-free and has already helped hundreds of workers who were laid-off get 21st-century jobs.
Dan has decided to run for Governor because he feels Pennsylvania’s families need a government that is more efficient and more responsive to the needs of the people. Since Dan is a public official, he has never settled for the status quo, and as Governor, he will bring innovative ideas that will reform the government, clean up Harrisburg, and create new 21st-century jobs, strengthen our educational system and invest in new energy saving solutions.
Currently Dan Onorato lives in the Brighton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh with his wife Shelly. Dan and Shelly met while he attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. They have three children: Kate, 19; Emily, 16; and Danny, 13. The family attends St. Cyril’s Catholic Church.
