Stats Aren't Everything in Pittsburgh Mayoral Race

Nov. 6, 2007 — -- In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans, 5-1, the outcome of a mayoral election might seem like a foregone conclusion. But in Pittsburgh this year, statistics can't tell the story.

Democratic Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Republican challenger Mark DeSantis take their battle to the ballot box today in a race that proves the adage "all politics is local."

Political pundits say DeSantis, the entreprenuer-cum-write-in-Republican candidate, poses the most serious threat to the Democratic throne in decades, collecting endorsements usually reserved for Democrats and making inroads in Pittsburgh's staunchly politically blue landscape.

In the city's history, says University of Pittsburgh political communications professor Jerry Shuster, "no Republican has done much more than get his or her name on the ballot or reach a point of credibility as a viable threat to the incumbent candidate. Mark DeSantis has done that."

Steel City's mayoral politics first made headlines this summer after the unexpected passing of Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor. Ravenstahl, the 26-year-old City Council president, was sworn in as O'Connor's successor, going down in the books as the youngest mayor in Pittsburgh history.

G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, describes Ravenstahl as "O'Connor's protégé" and likened the young mayor to a vice presidential pick.

"The president never expects the vice president to be president," Madonna said.

For the old steel town — facing economic hardship and an ever-diminishing populous — Ravenstahl's age seemed the youthful surge it needed to face changing times.

Local reports decorated the accidental mayor as a modern-day David against the city's political Goliath, lauding him as "charming," "honest," and "innocent."