The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

al election of 1997 in

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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

was held on

Tuesday Tuesday is the day of the week between Monday and Wednesday. According to international standard ISO 8601, Monday is the first day of the week; thus, Tuesday is the second day of the week. According to some commonly used calendars, however, ...

, November 4, 1997. The incumbent mayor, Tom Murphy of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

was running for a second straight term.

Democratic Primary

Murphy faced a difficult battle from City Council President

Bob O'Connor Bob O'Connor may refer to: * Bob O'Connor (mayor) Robert E. O'Connor Jr. (December 9, 1944 – September 1, 2006) was an American politician who was the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from January 3, 2006, until his death. Personal life and ...

, who would later go on to become mayor. The incumbent's popularity was waning due to his steadfast of two controversial measures: a tax to construct new stadiums for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, and a faltering public-private partnership to purchase vacant Downtown storefronts. The battle was especially tense due to personality differences between the two men that led to frequently clashes over legislation.

General Election

A total of 82,203 votes were cast in the general election. As is typical of races in Pittsburgh, the Democratic candidate won by a large margin over Republican Harry Frost, a construction executive.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pittsburgh Mayoral Election, 1997 1997 Pennsylvania elections 1997 United States mayoral elections

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

1990s in Pittsburgh November 1997 events in the United States