2001 Pittsburgh mayoral election

2001 Pittsburgh mayoral election

November 6, 2001

Nominee Tom Murphy James Carmine Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 39,257 12,175 Percentage 74.30% 23.04%

Mayor before election Tom Murphy Democratic Elected Mayor Tom Murphy Democratic

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.

Primary elections

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Murphy (incumbent)	32,683	48.31
	Democratic	Bob O'Connor	31,984	47.27
	Democratic	Leroy L. Hodge	1,659	2.45
	Democratic	Joshua Pollock	1,094	1.62
	Democratic	Earl V. Jones, Sr.	237	0.35
Total votes			67,657	100.0

General election

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tom Murphy (incumbent)	39,257	74.30
	Republican	James Carmine	12,175	23.04
	Independent	Chaston Roston	964	1.82
	Socialist	Francis V. Forrestal	443	0.84
Turnout			52,839
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

• "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