Morgan Overton is a Pennsylvania delegate for Kamala Harris at next week's Democratic National Convention, a member of Democratic governor Josh Shapiro's advisory council for women, and a Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania board member. She's also a quiet supporter of a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) ballot initiative that would cripple the city's Jewish organizations and punish its largest hospital system.
Overton, who said she is "so energized" to back Harris in Chicago, signed a petition that would trigger a BDS ballot measure come November, documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show. If passed, the measure would force the city of Pittsburgh—and all of its nonprofit entities—to cut ties with Israel or lose tax-exempt status and all public funding. Overton, who has been described as "besties" with Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, signed the petition on July 27, though she has not voiced public support for the measure.
Overton's decision to back the petition—she introduced herself as the vice chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee when signing it and told organizers to "keep up the good work," according to a witness—reflects the increasing overlap between the party's establishment and far-left flanks when it comes to the Jewish state and its war on Hamas.
The Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America is spearheading the ballot initiative, dubbed "No War Crimes on Our Dime," to make it such that Pittsburgh "is not supporting anyone who profits from war crimes in Palestine and Israel." The communist group expressed "unequivocal support for the Palestinian struggle for freedom" days after Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel last year.
The measure bars "the investment or allocation of public funds, including tax exemptions, to entities that conduct business operations with or in the state of Israel." Beyond local synagogues and Jewish groups, which would lose out on both their local tax-exempt status and funding used for security, the measure would have a significant impact on the city's hospital system.
That system, the nonprofit University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), operates 40 hospitals and 70 cancer centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Maryland. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, it employs 100,000 people and brought in $28 billion in revenue last year. It also has connections to Israel.
In March 2023, for example, the hospital's Global Care program brought a 34-year-old Israeli woman from her home near Tel Aviv to Pittsburgh to perform a surgery on cancer located near her skull and an artery that runs to her brain. The woman, Yael Leder, was told by local doctors to "simply watch and wait," but UPMC surgeon Carl Snyderman performed a successful operation.
The hospital guided Leder "through her treatment process and stay in Pittsburgh" through its Global Care program, which "helps with housing arrangements, language translation and coordination of appointments." Under the BDS ballot petition, such work would seemingly bar the hospital from receiving city contracts and tax exemptions.
City controller Rachel Heisler and Jewish groups vehemently oppose the ballot initiative, saying the broad language would also hurt the city’s fire department, which uses an Israeli company as a supplier.
"It could prevent us from carrying out basic City functions, like providing electricity, purchasing life-saving medications, buying protective equipment for first responders, and even fueling police vehicles—to name a few," said Heisler.
In addition to Overton, other prominent Democrats have signed the petition or gathered signatures to place it on the ballot, according to records reviewed by the Free Beacon.
Kacy McGill, a staffer for anti-Israel Rep. Summer Lee’s campaign and congressional office, has gathered signatures for the petition, according to documents obtained by the Free Beacon. Dozens of other public officials and Democratic party committee members have signed or circulated the petition.
That includes the staff of Pittsburgh city councilwoman Barb Warwick and four members of Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration. Allegheny County councilwoman Bethany Hallam and more than 70 members of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee have signed the petition.
The involvement of so many of Pittsburgh’s Democratic political figures raises questions for their allies in the statewide and national Democratic party. Overton took part in a "Progressives for Harris" fundraising call earlier this year and serves on Shapiro's Advisory Commission on Women, which the governor launched via executive order last year. She organized a 2022 campaign rally for Lee, the anti-Israel "Squad" member, and Casey.
Overton, who is raising money to fund her trip to the Democratic National Convention, locked down her social media account after the Free Beacon contacted her for comment. She did not respond.
Harris will appear in Pittsburgh this weekend ahead of her trip to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment about the ballot question.
One local Jewish leader said he is "disappointed but not surprised" that so many politicians, city staff, and Democratic committee members are pushing a measure "that harms both the City of Pittsburgh and the local Jewish community."
"This is part of a trend of increasingly normalized anti-Jewish speech and actions that have infiltrated to the highest levels of our local government," Jeremy Kazzaz, the founder of the Beacon Coalition, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America says it is confident the question will be added to the November ballot, citing a recent survey from an unidentified pollster that claims 63 percent of Pittsburgh residents support the ballot initiative. "The vast majority of people are excited to support No War Crimes On Our Dime, and we are quickly building a big, powerful, and exciting grassroots campaign with many people excited to help," the group said.
The petition has gathered more than the 12,000 signatures needed to place it on the ballot, but Jewish groups are already mounting a legal challenge, and they have the backing of Heisler. She said the initiative’s broad language would disrupt "essential services" to Pittsburgh residents. Israeli companies supply firefighter equipment for the city and its supply of Narcan, the narcotic used to reverse drug overdoses, according to Heisler.
"This measure will do nothing to impact policy in the Middle East, but it will impose an unreasonable burden on our city and its Jewish institutions, synagogues, and other houses of worship," said Jeff Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
The campaigns of Casey and Lee did not respond to requests for comment.