2001 Pittsburgh mayoral election

Summary

The mayoral election of 2001 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2001. The incumbent mayor, Tom Murphy of the Democratic Party was running for a record-tying third straight term.

2001 Pittsburgh mayoral election

← 1997 November 6, 2001 2005 →
 
Nominee Tom Murphy James Carmine
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 39,257 12,175
Percentage 74.3% 23.0%

Mayor before election

Tom Murphy
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Tom Murphy
Democratic

Primary elections edit

Tom Murphy had a very close and personal primary battle with City Council President and future mayor Bob O'Connor. Murphy won the primary by just a few hundred votes, and in later years this primary battle was the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice probe. It was alleged but never proven in court that Mayor Murphy had a quid pro quo agreement with the powerful Firefighters union in the city, promising to exempt them from citywide budget cuts in return for "bought" votes.

Pittsburgh mayoral election, 2001[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tom Murphy (incumbent) 32,683 48.3
Democratic Bob O'Connor 31,984 47.3
Democratic Leroy Hodge 1,659 2.5
Democratic Joshua Pollock 1,094 1.6
Democratic Earl V. Jones, Sr. 237 0.4
Turnout 67,657

General election edit

A total of 52,839 votes were cast in the heavily Democratic city. As expected, Murphy won by a huge margin over James Carmine, a philosophy professor at Carlow University.

Pittsburgh mayoral election, 2001[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tom Murphy (incumbent) 39,257 74.3
Republican James Carmine 12,175 23.0
Turnout 52,839
Democratic hold Swing

References edit

  1. ^ Allegheny County Official Election Results, Allegheny County Board of Elections, May 8, 2001, retrieved October 7, 2009
  2. ^ Allegheny County Official Election Results, Allegheny County Board of Elections, November 27, 2001, retrieved September 18, 2009
  • "Republican mayoral candidates through the years". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 7, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
Preceded by
1997
Pittsburgh mayoral election
2001
Succeeded by
2005