Brief - Ink in the Trib about candidate for 42nd

PittsburghLIVE.com: South Side

Rauterkus seeking Wagner's empty post

Mark Rauterkus, 45, of the South Side, will run as a Libertarian Party candidate for the state Senate seat being vacated by Jack Wagner.

Rauterkus, a swimming coach, was nominated last week by the Allegheny County Libertarian Party as its candidate in the race to complete Wagner's term in the 42nd Senate District. Rauterkus ran unsuccessfully for Pittsburgh mayor as a Republican in 2001.

Wagner, a Democrat from Beechview, was elected state auditor general on Nov. 2 and is scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 18. A successor will be chosen in a special election to fill the nearly two years remaining on Wagner's term, which expires at the end of 2006. The date of the special election will be set after Wagner resigns from the Senate post.