Ravenstahl easily tops Peduto for party nod
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's decisive win over City Councilman Bill Peduto for the Democratic endorsement Sunday dims the challenger's chances for an upset in the May primary, but doesn't extinguish them, political analysts said.
More than 1,800 Democratic Party insiders from Allegheny County gathered throughout the day in the IBEW union hall in the South Side to vote to support candidates for Pittsburgh City Council, city controller, Allegheny County Council, Pittsburgh Public Schools board, Common Pleas Court and sheriff.
Allegheny County Council incumbents suffered a slew of defeats.
Councilwoman Joan Cleary of Brentwood lost to John Palmiere; Councilwoman Brenda Frazier of Stanton Heights lost to Matt Arena; and Councilman William Lestitian of Brookline fell to Jim Ellenbogen.
Councilman Bob Macey beat challenger Jay Jabbour.
Acting county Sheriff William Mullen easily dispatched challenger Anthony Costa. Voters could eliminate Mullen's job in a referendum on the May 15 primary ballot.
Ravenstahl, 27, of Summer Hill, said the endorsement would help him stay in office.
"I'm certainly very excited," said Ravenstahl, who became mayor Sept. 1 upon the death of Bob O'Connor. "This is just the first step of many towards ultimately having success on May 15."
Ravenstahl received 602 votes to Peduto's 163.
"We knew it was uphill to win the endorsement," said Peduto, 42, of Point Breeze. "Eight hundred people voted today, 60,000 will vote on May 15. It doesn't slow our campaign down. If anything, it fires us up."
Duquesne University law professor Joseph Sabino Mistick said Peduto's hope isn't foolhardy: The councilman made a symbolically strong showing despite losing.
"Every vote that a challenger gets is really an accomplishment," said Mistick, a top aide to former mayors Sophie Masloff and Richard Caliguiri. "Ravenstahl was supposed to win."
"The fact that (Peduto) came up with 163 votes means he has some credibility within the committee," he said. "Now we move on to the next part of the campaign where it goes to the voters."
Jerry Shuster, a University of Pittsburgh political communications professor, said Peduto's loss could cause his campaign to falter.
"It presents a real stumbling block in front of Peduto," Shuster said. "And it suggests that party loyalists are behind Ravenstahl."
An upset isn't impossible, Shuster said, but it's less likely now that Ravenstahl will have extra volunteers, advertisements on bulk mailings and top billing on the ballot.
The endorsements do not decide who will win the Democratic primary -- that's up to voters May 15 -- but they do allow candidates to use the party's influence to persuade voters, Mistick said.
In the past 30 years, two mayoral candidates who didn't get the Democratic Party's endorsement went on to defeat the favored candidate: Masloff beat then-City Controller Tom Flaherty in 1989; and Caliguiri defeated Tom Foerster, the long-serving county commissioner, in 1977.
Among city races, the May primary virtually decides who will win the general election in November because registered Democratic voters outnumber Republican voters by a margin of 5-to-1.
Incumbents on Pittsburgh City Council fared well yesterday -- with one exception: embattled Twanda Carlisle was the only incumbent to lose the endorsement. She lost to Rachel Cooper, 22, of Homewood, a recent Howard University graduate and the daughter of District Judge Kevin Cooper.
"I think they're ready for a change," Cooper said. "I think that they saw the energy that I have, the passion that I have for changing District 9."
Carlisle could not be reached for comment. County prosecutors are investigating her for more than $177,000 in questionable taxpayer-funded payments she authorized to family friends and political supporters over four years.
In the three-way race for city controller, Allegheny County Prothonotary Michael Lamb edged acting Controller Anthony Pokora by one vote thanks to a last-minute recount and two provisional ballots.
Pokora plans to challenge the results in court this week.
He said the committee's bylaws don't address the use of provisional ballots used by those who could not show proof they were eligible to participate yesterday. Pokora has said he would not run without the committee's endorsement, but he was unsure yesterday if he would stick to that pledge given the close vote.
City Councilman Doug Shields, who received the endorsement in his council race, placed a distant third in the controller's race.
In a separate challenge, Andrea Boykowycz, a Peduto supporter, has contested the voting eligibility of 20 committee members.
Committee Chairman Jim Burn said she challenged the members' voter registration and residency. Committee members must be registered Democrats living in Allegheny County.
Burn said the committee members will be given 30 days to prove their eligibility. The results could affect some of the close races.
Democratic Party endorses candidates
Mayor
Luke Ravenstahl
Pittsburgh City Council
= District 1: Incumbent Darlene Harris
= District 3: Incumbent Jeffrey Koch
= District 5: Incumbent Douglas Shields
= District 7: Incumbent Len Bodack
= District 9: Rachel Cooper
Pittsburgh City Controller
Allegheny County Prothonotary Michael Lamb
Allegheny County Council
= District 6: John Palmiere
= District 9: Bob Macey
= District 12: Jim Ellenbogen
= District 13: Matthew Arena
Common Pleas Judge
Four seats available (listed in order of votes received):
= Michael McCarthy
= Arnie Klein
= Jack McVey
= Wrenna Watson
Pittsburgh Public School Board
= District 2: Stephanie Tecza
= District 6: Sherry Hazuda
Other offices
= Allegheny County Chief Executive: Dan Onorato*
= Allegheny County Sheriff: William Mullen
*Endorsement was uncontested
