Incumbent Rich Lattanzi out-polled three challengers to win the Democratic nomination in Clairton's mayoral primary on Tuesday.
According to complete but unofficial returns from Allegheny County Elections Division, Lattanzi's 672 votes bested the two councilmen in the race — Richard Ford (596 votes) and Terry Julian (96) — and Ken Barna (87).
Two write-in votes were reported from the city's 12 precincts.
“It was very stressful. It was a lot of hard work,” Lattanzi said. “There was a lot of hard feelings. There was mudslinging. There was slander. There were other things as well. This race meant a lot to a lot of people.
“To be quite honest with you I'm very surprised by the outcome. I never thought that I could beat three guys working together. Kenny and Terry were in there to take votes — it backfired.”
Julian said characterizing him as a spoiler is not accurate.
“I thought I could win,” he said, “but I lacked the resources that Rich Lattanzi and my other opponents had.”
Julian suffered a double defeat at the polls, losing his bid for a Democratic nomination for Ward 3's city council seat to challenger Lee Lasich, 239-110, with three write-in votes pending.
Ford conceded that a majority of voters want to retain Lattanzi, based on the totals.
“If this public did this and this is what they want, this is what they'll get,” Ford said. “I have never seen an election like this.”
Ford said he chose not to take part in the campaign mudslinging, particularly on social media.
“If you watched all through this campaign, you've never seen me handle myself as anything less than a gentleman,” he said. “And that's what you're going to see in the future.”
Barna was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.
Tax issues fueled court challenges against Ford's mayoral candidacy and Julian's candidacies for mayor and council.
Lattanzi attempted to remove Ford from the ballot through the courts, but the mayor's final appeal was denied by the state Supreme Court.
Lattanzi maintained that Ford misled the taxpayers by not disclosing his tax debt to the city, Clairton City School District, the IRS and Clairton Reinvestment Corp.
“As far as them talking about my taxes and things, I own more properties than almost all of them,” Ford said. “You can't take me out of Clairton. You can't take away my love for the city.”
Lasich claimed Julian owed $34,000 to the city and school district. Her challenge was dismissed by county Common Pleas Judge Joseph M. James because she failed to file it on time.
Julian said Lasich was wrong about what he owed from a defunct business.
“This was old-time politics against new school,” Lattanzi said. “Back in the day people didn't pay taxes. They had friends in high places. They took care of each other. They got jobs. The people I deal with are good tax-paying people who contribute to the city in a positive manner.”
Ford was unopposed in the Democratic race for Ward 2 councilman, garnering 258 votes.
“I'm still going to work for the betterment of this community,” Ford said. “I'm still going to be a decision maker, and I'm still going to do the things that I do.”
Clairton Democratic Committee endorsed Ford for mayor and Julian for council in Ward 3. Lattanzi is the chairman of that committee.
“The endorsement meant a lot to me,” Ford said. “The people of the committee are the people who know the candidates.”
Lattanzi said he is confident he'll receive the Republican nomination when the write-in votes are counted.
“The Republicans are all about good people paying taxes, and that's what I represent,” Lattanzi said.
Michael DiVittorio is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-664-9161, ext. 1965, or mdivittorio@tribweb.com.
