 In September 2008, Pehme, a critic of Vito Lopez, ran in the Democratic primary to represent a portion of Greenpoint, Brooklyn as a County Committee Member in the Kings County Democratic Party.On September 19, 2011, Pehme was named one of "City Hall"s Rising Stars Under 40 for his work as executive director of New York Civic, a group founded by former New York City Parks Commissioner Henry Stern.On August 18, 2012, Pehme was hired as editor-in-chief of the newspaper "City & State", which covers New York politics.