• Pittsburgh City Council and Allegheny County Council results,
The job of replacing a Pittsburgh political icon falls to Bobby Wilson, who on Tuesday won the general election for the City Council seat held by Darlene Harris, according to unofficial results.
The race saw Mr. Wilson, 36, of Spring Hill-City View, riding the Democratic nomination he wrested from Ms. Harris in May to a convincing victory over independent Chris Rosselot, 39, and Socialist Workers Party candidate Malcolm Jarrett, 49.
Mr. Wilson, a medical center technologist, ran with the backing of Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, the ground forces of the Service Employees International Union, and funding from developers including Walnut Capital and Mistick Construction.
Mr. Rosselot, of Spring Garden, a public relations professional and former staffer for U.S. Senator Bob Casey, had the support of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and several local attorneys. Mr. Jarrett, of East Allegheny, a cook and former teacher, positioned himself as the voice of those who “have been given a raw deal.”
“Bob Wilson definitely got me,” said Karen Glenn, 66, after voting at the Spring Hill K5 school. She said the Wilson campaign reached out to her several times and seemed interested in her suggestions. “We need someone to do something for us in Spring Hill,” especially about the dark streets at night, and she felt that Mr. Wilson would hear her concerns.
The result ensured that Ms. Harris — a persistent critic of Mr. Peduto — would be replaced by someone likely to begin as a mayoral ally. The departing councilwoman was a fixture on the Pittsburgh Public Schools board before her 2006 ascent to council to replace Luke Ravenstahl after he became mayor. She ran against Mr. Peduto in 2017.
“We faced a lot of the same crowd that supported the councilwoman” in May, said Mr. Wilson, as supporters finished their beers at the Elks Lodge on Cedar Avenue. “People want to move past a network that had been operating on the North Side . ... We need to make sure that the North Side continues on this path of positivity and having relationships that are actually going to move this area forward instead of having petty, personal grievances.”
“The big priority is seeing actual development happen on the North Side so we’re not left behind,” he continued. “But at the same time, I want to make sure that there is long-term affordability for people.”
He noted that his family was displaced by both Allegheny Center and the construction of Interstate 279, and he would “make sure that displacement like that never happens on the North Side again.”
He said that he hopes to have “a working relationship” with Mr. Peduto. “We’re not going to agree on everything. But I want to make sure that we have the ability to set up any meeting we want to, to talk through our issues” involving the North Side and the city.
In other races, Councilman Ricky Burgess won while capturing just over two-fifths of the votes against a divided field.
Rev. Burgess, of Point Breeze North, had the support of labor unions and developers in his bid for a fourth term, in a race focused on the district’s uneven mix of poverty and rapid redevelopment.
Randall Taylor, of East Liberty, and Rev. B. DeNeice Welch, of East Hills, split the opposition, each topping a quarter of the vote but neither approaching the incumbent’s total.
Council President Bruce Kraus, 65, of the South Side Flats, a Democrat, easily beat challenger Jacob A. Nixon, 29, of Central Oakland, who ran as an independent.
Mr. Nixon had challenged the city’s handling of abandoned property, its deed transfer tax hike, and parking policies that he said had an outsized impact on young people. Mr. Kraus was backed by Mr. Peduto and numerous unions.
Uncontested for re-election were city Controller Michael Lamb, Councilman Corey O’Connor, of Swisshelm Park, and Councilwoman Deb Gross, of Highland Park. All are Democrats.