Michael Lamb (born 1962) is an American politician and attorney who has served as Controller of the City of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

since 2008 and was most recently a candidate for

auditor general An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

Early life and education

In 1962, he was born to politician Thomas F. Lamb and Barbara Joyce. In high school, he was on the student council and was voted as most active. Lamb first attended

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

where during the 1984 presidential election he coordinated

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

's presidential campaign at the college level and eventually graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1984. Lamb earned a Juris Doctor from the

Duquesne University School of Law The Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University is a private Catholic university law school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is approved by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. ...

and Master of Public Policy from

Heinz College The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, often called Heinz College, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a private graduate college that consists of one of the nation's top-ranked public policy schools� ...

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Career

In 1986, Lamb volunteered for Representative

Doug Walgren Douglas Walgren (born December 28, 1940) is an American attorney and politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1991. Early life Walgren was born in Rochester, New York, and ...

. In 2005, he ran in the Democratic primary for the mayoralty of Pittsburgh, but placed third. In 2007, he defeated city council president Doug Shields, former state senator

Michael Dawida Michael M. Dawida (born September 4, 1949) is a former Allegheny County Commissioner, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and the Pennsylvania State Senate. Education A native of Carrick and a graduate of Carrick High School, ...

, and incumbent city controller Anthony Pokora in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh City Controller. In the general election his only opponent was Mark Rauterkus, a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

, whom he defeated. This was the only time he faced an opponent for the office in a general election. In 2012, Lamb, along with

Jim Burn James R. Burn, Jr. is an American attorney and martial arts instructor. Over a 22-year period of public service, he has served as mayor of Millvale Borough in Allegheny County, Allegheny County Council Chairman of the Allegheny County Democratic ...

, chairman of the

Pennsylvania Democratic Party The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is headquartered in Harrisburg and is the largest political party in the state. Its chair is Senator Sharif Street. Governor Tom Wol ...

, and Georgia Berner, criticized

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

for his statement that he will "take a lot of credit that the auto industry has come back". On January 16, 2013, he announced that he would challenge incumbent Mayor

Luke Ravenstahl Luke Robert Ravenstahl (born February 6, 1980) is an American politician who served as the 59th Mayor of Pittsburgh from 2006 until 2014. A Democrat, he became the youngest mayor in Pittsburgh's history in September 2006 at the age of 26. He was ...

in the Democratic primary, becoming his second challenger, but after Ravenstahl dropped out he also dropped out and endorsed Auditor General Jack Wagner, who came in second place. On November 19, 2019, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for

Pennsylvania Auditor General The Pennsylvania auditor general is the chief fiscal officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1850. The current auditor general of Pennsylvania is Republican Timothy DeFoor. History The office of the auditor g ...

and later received endorsements from Representative

Mike Doyle Michael, Mick or Mike Doyle may refer to: Politics *Michael Doyle (Irish politician), Irish Farmers' Party politician from Wexford, TD from 1922 to 1927 *Michael Doyle, alleged member of the Molly Maguires *Mike Doyle (American politician) (born 1 ...

, Representative

Conor Lamb Conor James Lamb (born June 27, 1984) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district since 2019. The district includes most of the northwestern suburbs of Pittsburgh ...

, state Senate Minority leader

Jay Costa Jay Costa (born November 17, 1957) is an American politician, currently serving as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who has represented the 43rd District since 1996. On November 17, 2010, Senate Democrats elected Costa as their new f ...

, and state House Minority Leader

Frank Dermody Frank Dermody (born May 29, 1951) is an American politician. He was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 33rd district from 1991 until 2020. Dermody served as House Democratic Leader from 2011 until ...

. He was defeated in the primary by former

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

deputy mayor Nina Ahmad.

Personal life

In 1995, Lamb married Jill Zilka. Lamb's nephew,

, is an attorney and served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Michael 1964 births 21st-century American politicians Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy alumni Living people Pennsylvania Democrats