The Democratic primary race for retiring Rep. Tom Petrone's House seat features Mr. Petrone's chief of staff and chosen successor, a city councilman who is the pick of the county Democratic party and an attorney with Harrisburg connections and years working for the state who nonetheless is cast as the outsider candidate.

Voters in the 27th District -- which includes Pittsburgh's western neighborhoods, Crafton, Dormont, Ingram and suburbs along the Ohio River -- will choose among Ryan Douglass, Dan Deasy and John Paul Jones in the April 22 primary. No Republicans are in the race.

A city councilman, Mr. Deasy, 41, of Westwood, grew up in Banksville. He graduated from Bishop Canevin High School and took business and economics classes at the University of Pittsburgh, though he did not earn a degree.

He joined the city's Public Works Department in 1989 and worked there until 2005, when he ran for City Council in District 2, representing Mount Washington and parts of the West End. Mr. Deasy still prides himself on winning the primary race against Paul Renne, a retired H.J. Heinz Co. official, by a 2-to-1 margin while being outspent 5 to 1.

In office Mr. Deasy said his biggest achievements have been helping to reopen the Zone 6 police station in the West End, working to secure a $1 million federal Weed and Seed grant to help fight crime in the region, and an initiative he introduced to curb absentee landlords. He also serves as council's budget chairman.

Mr. Deasy said he will use connections forged in his time on council to push for more state funding for education and health care, among other issues.

"I've developed a working relationship with folks at the county level, the state level, the federal level," said Mr. Deasy, who was endorsed by the Allegheny County Democratic Committee Feb. 10. "I've developed those relationships, and I think the district needs an advocate that can work with all the factions on that."

Mr. Douglass, 29, of Crafton, is the chief of staff to Mr. Petrone, who is retiring after serving in the House since 1981. He, too, attended Bishop Canevin, but after that launched a professional baseball career. A pitcher, Mr. Douglass was drafted by the Kansas City Royals and spent eight years in the minor leagues, advancing no higher than Double A -- two steps from the majors.

He played for the Harrisburg Senators, a Double A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in 2005 and was lured out of baseball and into the state House by Mr. Petrone, an old family friend. Mr. Douglass shadowed Mr. Petrone's chief of staff for 3¹/₂ months, then assumed the job in January 2006.

Shuttling between Harrisburg and Mr. Petrone's district offices, Mr. Douglass said he formed connections with legislators from both parties and learned how to administer to constituents.

"From Day 1, that service will continue. A lot of people really take it for granted because it's been here for so long -- just go to Tom's office, and they'll know what to do," said Mr. Douglass, who will advocate allowing voters to choose an income tax or sales tax instead of property taxes to fund schools.

Mr. Jones, 43, of Westwood, grew up in Sheraden and graduated from Langley High School. He did his undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon and has a law degree from Pitt.

He worked as a staff attorney for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, a school employees' union. Three years ago he joined the state's Department of General Services, working with the Legislature in Harrisburg for a year before moving back home to coordinate the department's Western Pennsylvania efforts. He has lent legal counsel to negotiations for the Penguins' new arena and selling the State Office Building.

Mr. Jones touted his experience in making government more efficient, saying he helped save state government $250 million through smarter purchasing and another $250 million savings in energy spending is on the way.

He wants to encourage investment in environmentally friendly "green" technologies as a way to revitalize the district economically, saying he'd push the state to partner with private interests to make that happen.

Though he has his share of Harrisburg connections, Mr. Jones is an outsider, considering that he is not an establishment choice and trails the other two candidates in name recognition.

"That outside perspective I think is good because it will bring fresh perspective and bring a real need for advocacy and getting things done," he said, "rather than being beholden to certain interests or powers that want to see things done probably the way they've been done. And, quite frankly, they've failed."