BILL PEDUTO

After one of the strangest Democratic Primary seasons on record, which saw a sitting mayor beset by scandal drop out, then seven candidates file petitions, three of them drop out, then one of the remaining four get arrested for public drunkenness, the voters of Pittsburgh have finally chosen Bill Peduto as their next mayor.

As of Courier press deadline, and with 78 percent of the precincts reporting Peduto had 53 percent of the vote to Jack Wagner’s 40 percent according to the county board of elections’ unofficial results. State Rep. Jake Wheatley came in third with 7 percent of the vote, and community activist A. J. Richardson finished last with less than 1 percent.
Peduto will face Republican Josh Wander in the November general election, which given that no Republican has held the seat in more than 80 years, would seem to be a formality.

There wil be no such formality in the District 6 city council race, as no Republican filed. Barring a November run from an independent, Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle will be sworn in again after winning 53 percent of the vote, more than twice that of his two rivals, former Councilwomen Tonya Payne and attorney Franco “Dok” Harris, combined.

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This combination of three file photos shows, left, then state Auditor General Jack Wagner in Philadelphia on Friday, May 7, 2010. The center photo shows Bill Peduto in a file photo from March, 2005. The photo at right is a 2006 file photo of Luke Ravenstahl, the incumbent mayor of Pittsburgh who is not seeking re-election. (AP Photos/Wagner/Matt Rourke, Peduto-Ravenstahl /Keith Srakocic)

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