AP Wire Former city councilman, attorney vie to be Pittsburgh mayor The run-up to next week's mayoral election had all the makings of a hot contest: a struggling city whose finances are in tatters, a three-term mayor choosing not to run again, and a former City Council president going head-to-head with a political newcomer.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Comprehensive article on Pgh Mayor Race from State College
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Former city councilman, attorney vie to be Pittsburgh mayor
JOE MANDAK
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH - The run-up to next week's mayoral election had all the makings of a hot contest: a struggling city whose finances are in tatters, a three-term mayor choosing not to run again, and a former City Council president going head-to-head with a political newcomer.
But since Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 5-to-1 in the Steel City, most people are viewing Tuesday's general election as a formality.
Former City Councilman Bob O'Connor, the Democratic candidate, is the heavy favorite to beat Republican Joe Weinroth, three third-party candidates and a colorful write-in hopeful who drives a car emblazoned with an image of his face.
"The buzz? It's nonexistent," said Joseph Sabino Mistick, a political analyst and an associate professor at Duquesne University School of Law. "When it comes to general elections in Pittsburgh, we find that the Democratic primary is almost universally determinative."
Mayor Tom Murphy is leaving office after 12 years, a tenure most recently marked by trials and tribulations. In 2003, Pittsburgh was declared financially distressed by the state and two quasi-governmental boards were established to oversee the city's finances.
But the city's problems haven't deterred voters from supporting Democrats. Democrats hold a 160,863-to-32,909 advantage, and voters haven't elected a Republican mayor since the Depression.
"I am not politically savvy, so that tends to make me apathetic," said Sue Sweeney, 48, a city resident who talked about the election during a smoke break recently.
That's also why, she says, she'll vote a straight ticket: "I know that the Democrats are usually more in favor of the working class."
A spokesman for O'Connor, a former vice president of operations for fast food restaurants, said he's not taking anything for granted. He has run unsuccessfully for the Democratic mayoral nomination twice before.
"We only know one way to run - and that's like you're being chased," spokesman Dick Skrinjar said.
O'Connor said he'll run the city like a businessman, and he said a priority is patching up relations between the city and lawmakers in Harrisburg. Weinroth said if elected he would reduce the size of the city council, and focus on neighborhood revitalization, public safety and lowering taxes.
O'Connor is backed by the party, the police union and most City Council members, though Weinroth scored a victory earlier this year when he was endorsed by the city's firefighters' union.
"It took a lot of guts to go against the other unions and to go against the usual suspects," Weinroth said. "They know that a financially healthy city is good for them and a bankrupt city is a nightmare."
Three of the other four candidates acknowledge they aren't likely to be elected. The optimist is Les Ludwig, 72, who supported O'Connor until, Ludwig says, O'Connor wouldn't commit to finding Ludwig a job in his administration.
Ludwig's campaign car is adorned with his grinning face; his platform includes selling 1,500 dead trees in the city for firewood, which he says would raise enough money to keep the city's swimming pools open next summer.
Green Party candidate Titus North, About Open Government candidate David Tessitor, and Jay Ressler, the Socialist Workers' party candidate, have received little attention, except when they protested their exclusion from mayoral debates.
Tessitor blames the media.
"We have tried to get the message out, but when they simply try to limit it to Democrats and Republicans, then you get what you've always gotten," Tessitor said. "That's one of the things that's made (the campaign) so lackluster."
ON THE NET
http://www.boboconnorformayor.com
http://www.joeweinrothformayor.com
http://www.north4mayor.org
http://www.tessitor.com
http://www.themilitant.com
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