Or maybe not.
The race between incumbent Democrat Luke Ravenstahl, 29, and challengers Kevin Acklin, 33, and Franco "Dok" Harris, 30, both independents, has been marked by little visible campaigning and virtually no interest from the public.
"We spent two days focusing on a boy that wasn't even in a balloon, and we don't see anything about things that really hit people," said Harris.
"The mind-set is that this race doesn't matter, your vote doesn't matter, just sit at home, and that's really scary," said Harris, son of Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris. He works for his father's baked-goods company.
For Pittsburgh, however, the stakes in next Tuesday's election are high:
The state considers the city financially distressed. While it is operating in surplus, economists say it is not sustainable, especially since only 30 percent of city pensions are funded.
Pittsburgh has weathered the recession relatively well, but unemployment is rising.
The region has made progress in replacing the steel industry with a diverse economy that includes education, health care, and a variety of "green" businesses - as was noted extensively in September, when Pittsburgh hosted the Group of 20 global economic summit. However, Pittsburgh has to work hard to remain competitive.
Still, "I don't think we're going to be overrun with voters who are excited about visiting the polls," said Joseph Sabino Mistick, a Duquesne University law professor and top aide to former Mayor Sophie Masloff.
"I don't care, because every time you vote, everything stays the same," said Preston Harris, 63, a retired construction worker, who said he was looking for a job to supplement his income and cannot find one.
Kerry Donahue, 27, who works in marketing and lives in the city's Friendship section, said she plans to vote but thinks Ravenstahl will win easily. "People in Pittsburgh are going to vote Democrat regardless," said Donahue, who declined to say who she supports.
A slew of positive media attention generated by the G-20 summit helps the incumbent. And Pittsburgh hasn't elected a GOP mayor since the Great Depression; registered Democrats outnumber Republicans here 5-1.
Ravenstahl inherited the job when Bob O'Connor, his predecessor, died of brain cancer just months into his first year in office. The former college football star, who declined to be interviewed for this story, is running for his first full term.
Harris and Acklin, a lawyer, have been campaigning door-to-door in some of the city's most hardscrabble areas, hoping votes from disadvantaged communities will help oust Ravenstahl. Many are the same communities, though, that helped Ravenstahl win the Democratic primary in May.
Acklin draws inspiration from his childhood, when his mother struggled to raise him and his siblings while his father was in prison for armed robbery.
"There are four, five neighborhoods that are bearing their unfair share of violent crimes," he said.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's editorial board, which has often criticized Ravenstahl and backed City Council member Patrick Dowd in the May Democratic primary, endorsed the incumbent this time. The newspaper cited a "weak field of candidates" and what it called the mayor's ability to surround himself with capable people.
The mayor's opponents say the residents they are talking to are critical of Ravenstahl, saying that he only shows up in hard-hit areas when TV cameras are around, that more needs to be done to attract jobs, and that there is too much old-school politicking in the current administration.
"I don't doubt that the challengers are hearing a lot of unhappiness about the current administration," said Mistick. "I think there is a lot of unhappiness. But that is a long way from turning an incumbent out."
|
|
|
|
|
|
MOST POPULAR PHILLY.COM PHOTOS
Philly.com news blogs
Philly.com Promotions
