May 30, 2025 By Mike Jones 5 min read

The tiny borough of Long Branch in Washington County that went for Donald Trump last fall is poised to elect the first openly gay mayor in Western Pennsylvania, although the candidate said he’s more focused on issues affecting the community rather than being a trailblazer.

Mike Natale ran unopposed on the Democratic side of the ticket during the May 20 primary and easily secured that nomination with 32 votes, but he also waged a write-in campaign with Republicans and beat longtime Mayor Joseph DeBlassio Jr. by a 29-to-18 total to win the GOP nomination as well.

That means Natale will hold both the Democratic and Republican nominations for the Nov. 4 general election, and is strongly favored to be elected mayor of the tiny borough in the Mon Valley, barring any last-ditch write-in efforts to defeat him.

“I think there is probably some inspirational value there,” Natale said about his probable election in the fall. “The fact they are poised to elect me, that shows for all the signs and wanting to believe otherwise, sometimes the right person gets chosen regardless of the party.”

President Trump won the borough with more than 70% of the vote last fall, making Natale’s write-in victory in the Republican primary despite being a registered Democrat somewhat surprising. DeBlassio, who was first elected mayor in 1993 and has served eight terms in office, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Natale and his husband, Doug, moved in 2014 to Long Branch, which has a population of a little more than 400 people. The past four years, they’ve served as election workers at the only precinct in the borough, so he’s heard concerns from voters about the changes they want in the community.

Natale said the primary election focused on the issues – not his sexuality – as he discussed with voters about bringing city water to the borough and improving full-time police protection for the town.

He also said a priority is working with the state Department of Transportation to implement a four-way stop at Elco Hill and Dally roads, which he said has been a dangerous intersection for years. Natale recently helped to organize a meeting next month between PennDOT District 12 officials and borough residents to discuss what can be done to make the intersection safer. Another bad crash at that intersection three weeks ago inspired him to mount the write-in campaign with Republicans because he didn’t think borough officials were doing enough to address the problem.

But he’s also worked closely with other Long Branch residents who have told him they want changes in borough leadership, prompting them to run their own write-in campaigns for council, which he hopes will lead to a shakeup in the local government. The write-in results from last week’s primary were being tabulated by the Washington County elections office staff this week, although the winners of the council races were not released as of Thursday.

“I want safe streets,” Natale said. “I want a discussion about bringing water service to the borough, or at least to have a conversation about it.”

Natale, 48, who grew up in Bergen County, N.J., and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, has been a trendsetter in the past, serving as the first openly gay police chief in the region when he helped to form the Morris Township Police Department in northern Greene County in 2016.

“If that’s the trend, so be it. I can handle it,” Natale said of his milestone achievements in law enforcement and possibly as mayor. “I still have that heart of someone who wants to protect and serve.”

He later worked as the police chief in Smithton, but a crash on the Belle Vernon Bridge on Feb. 6, 2021, when he was struck by a reckless driver while off-duty and helping a disabled motorist on Interstate 70 left him with severe head injuries. He later returned to the force, but the murder of his friend and McKeesport police Officer Sean Sluganski exactly two years to the day after his own near-fatal accident led Natale to retire from police work.

“I came so close to death. It was time to serve my community in other ways,” said Natale, who had worked as a police officer since 2009. “I still have that protect and serve mentality. Just a slightly different calling.”

Since then, he’s worked as a truck driver and a welder while searching for something more permanent. He’s also spent time serving as a volunteer firefighter in the area. But the opportunity to serve his community as mayor was a job he thought would be especially meaningful.

“It’s extra responsibility. It’s extra work,” Natale said of the job. “I’ve achieved some significant milestones in my career as police chief. I want to stand up to bullies and I want transparency and honesty and communication in our borough government. And that’s not been happening.”

Ron Strouse became the first openly gay mayor of any town in Pennsylvania when he won election in the Philadelphia suburb of Doylestown Borough in 2013, and others have followed in his footsteps in the eastern part of the state. If elected this fall, Natale said he understands the responsibility of what it would mean to be the first openly gay man to serve as mayor in Western Pennsylvania, especially in a rural community like Long Branch.

“They’re willing to listen and set aside party labels for what’s right,” Natale said of the voters in Long Branch. “Maybe in some ways small towns are leading and these big cities with their clunky machine (politics) are in the past. I hope to inspire because it’s absolutely possible to happen. I hope it lays to rest the stereotypes.”