It was reported today that Mark
DeSantis, a last-minute write-in Republican candidate for Mayor, received far more votes than needed for the November ballot.
DeSantis reminds me of another little-known candidate who was tapped for potential greatness: freshman Congressman Jason
Altmire (D-North Hills).
Altmire was swept into office over one-time political juggernaut Melissa Hart. Hart was seemingly tapped by the GOP kingmakers a few years ago. Instead, she was derailed by a candidate few people knew of months before the General Election.
Could the same happen for
DeSantis, if there's a definitive "Anti-Luke" sentiment that comes about sometime in this summer? The position of "Independent Candidate who could draw Money" was originally earmarked for Bill
Peduto; however, he apparently decided that sitting on the sideline for the next decade with
Ravenstahl won't be that bad.
Peduto would only be 52 when
Ravenstahl moves onto a bigger statewide or Congressional post, and that's plenty of time to run the city his way.
There might be "niche" candidates like our dear friend Mark
Rauterkus, but only
DeSantis will be in a position to raise funds. Don't go crazy now, I don't expect it.
That being noted,
DeSantis has been described in some circles as "left of
Ravenstahl." With incredibly strong ties to the unions, Luke is a typical city of Pittsburgh politician. That's not to be confused with Dan
Onorato, who beat Jim
Roddey by truly being fiscally more conservative than the first ACE. Surely,
Onorato is tied into the unions as well, but he doesn't HAVE to be as tied to the hip to the region's most influential Special Interest Group. He can cater to the North Hills conservatives and the few that still remain in Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon.
Onorato has done a pretty fair job;
Roddey speaks highly of him and the Allegheny County Republican Committee, rudderless for what appears to be an eternity now (Rich
Stampahar was the last who initiated any kind of forward movement whatsoever), failed to provide even a viable write-in candidate. With
Roddey now well into his 70's and a suburbanite, the city wasn't going to post a worthy candidate. I didn't even want to try it for kicks and giggles.
Ravenstahl is not without his political skeletons. He just hasn't made enough powerful enemies to derail his ambitions. A friend told me Luke's approval rating rivaled that of Reagan in the salad days.
However, Luke might be getting a little too cocky. He's started to snipe with City Council President Doug Shields over silly stuff. And City Councilwoman
Twanda Carlisle's investigation/court case may still make an
occasional headline this summer. IF I have my
time line right,
Ravenstahl was city council president when
Carlisle was bankrolling her mother's boyfriend for
plagiarised white papers.
What if something else
embarrassing happens this summer. Power brokers won't nudge
Ravenstahl aside and hand over the reigns to Shields, who was former Mayor Bob
O'Connor's right hand man forever. The two apparently don't always get along.
Ravenstahl is a young man with a pretty wife and no children. What if he gets out of hand again like he did at the
Steelers game a few years ago? There is the Casino flap looming like a dark cloud over the hillside (something tells me that Smokey Robinson might want to hold off putting a down payment on a downtown condo, he may not be Don
Barden's headliner as soon as expected). What if Luke falls into the Mon after a night of checking out the South Side nightlife (on official business mind you)?
WPXI's fabulous Katrina Owens might be able to narrate as Jeff Koch's buddies pulls Luke from the muck.
DeSantis could be the next Jason
Altmire: a decent guy with no real credentials for the position. But the voters became sick of Melissa Hart's imposing height and linebacker shoulders and kicked her to the curb. If
Ravenstahl stumbles, the same could conceivably happen.
If
DeSantis starts to show up in the newspapers and on television, watch his donations. Do I expect him to be a player? No, not really. The classy Joe
Weinroth was superior in the debates last time around and very few people gave him the time of day or dollars from their wallet.
Luke
Ravenstahl won't be as dangerous to our fair city as Tom Murphy was for three terms. Murphy almost single handily destroyed Pittsburgh's 90 communities by looking only at the bells and whistles of Fifth and Forbes.
But if something
unforeseen happens this summer, Mark
DeSantis may just be the next Jason
Altimire. But don't bet on it.
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