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DISCUSSION
 
WASH:8766Pennsylvanian ( 401.24 points)May 19, 2021 08:07am
Somewhat surprising. I sensed some discontentment with Peduto, but thought he'd ultimately string it out -- which is why I was initially surprised that Peduto was, in my observation, first to go negative on the airwaves. Given the result here, I now strongly suspect the Peduto camp has been sitting on some less than favorable numbers for some weeks now. It seems to me they got complacent in the face of a perfect storm of factors -- race and class disparity exacerbated by a pandemic and a heightened awareness of police violence among other factors, not to mention a reasonably credible and telegenic challenger in Gainey (in combination with the clear discontentment on the left). The bits and pieces were there early but, by the time the situation became apparent, I think the damage had already been done.

We'll see if Peduto goes independent in the Fall, but it would be a steep, and unlikely, uphill climb for him.
 
LBT:10020PA Historian ( -200.33 points)May 19, 2021 08:48pm
A bad night for big city incumbent mayors all around.
 
I:6738IndyGeorgia ( 4590.47 points)May 19, 2021 09:10pm
Hope an election guru online can crunch the numbers for this race by city council district. Would be interesting to see the geographic breakdown.
 
D:1989RBH ( 5686.17 points)May 20, 2021 06:26pm
Moreno won some precincts. Whenever it's final, I could go find the pdf that has the precincts by city council district.

 
I:6738IndyGeorgia ( 4590.47 points)May 20, 2021 06:32pm
Thanks for sharing that. I find political geography to be really interesting, and I'm not as familiar with Pittsburgh.
 
WASH:8766Pennsylvanian ( 401.24 points)May 20, 2021 07:33pm
The results link - [Link] - has an interactive precinct results map. Unsurprising that Moreno, rather than Gainey, took wards in the south of the city. They are more suburban, and more conservative (though perhaps not so much in a cosmic sense), than the areas closer to the Triangle -- and are the areas in which Jack Wagner tended to have his strongest showing back in the 2013 primary. Moreno, a retired Pittsburgh Police officer, was more or less the candidate of the blue collar white bloc there.

The dramatic and unique topography of the city plays an interesting role in its politics. Something to note is that the outlying areas in the south are somewhat physically separated from the center of the city by a river and steep cliffs rising therefrom -- and it is easy to forget, given the difference in elevation, that one is still within city limits there.
 
I:6738IndyGeorgia ( 4590.47 points)May 20, 2021 09:07pm
Really appreciate that insight, Pennsylvanian. Thanks!
 
R:11094Chilp3 ( 0.00 points)May 21, 2021 07:40am
this is history made how do you support the candidate
 
D:1RP ( 5618.82 points)May 21, 2021 04:44pm
Pennsylvanian: has an interactive precinct results map.

So do we, if someone enters the data.

Interesting the the colors are almost the same, except Gainey's and Pedulo's are reversed.

And idea what the wards are for here? There are 32 wards, but only 9 city council districts...
 
WASH:8766Pennsylvanian ( 401.24 points)May 21, 2021 06:33pm
RP: So do we, if someone enters the data.

Yep. Beat me to it.

RP: And idea what the wards are for here? There are 32 wards, but only 9 city council districts...

The wards are largely a vestige of how the various neighborhoods were split early in the city's planning, and the districts within them are obviously individual precincts. They became a collective political apparatus, probably more than anything else, as the various machines ran the city for the intervening decades from the Civil War to the early 20th century (or, some might say, now). They retain some practical effect in elections and how results are counted and reported, obviously, but also other administrative functions (such as magisterial district judges -- justices of the peace, as they used to be -- who are assigned a subset of wards within Pennsylvania's unified judicial framework, independent of any city or county council districts). The wards, for lack of a better way to think about it, are "neighborhood" boundaries.
 
I:6738IndyGeorgia ( 4590.47 points)May 21, 2021 07:25pm
Pennsylvanian, a quick question about Mount Oliver. Anything significant/unique about this area? Do you know why they are an enclave and not part of the city?

Thanks for the information.
 
WASH:8766Pennsylvanian ( 401.24 points)May 21, 2021 07:50pm
IndyGeorgia: Pennsylvanian, a quick question about Mount Oliver. Anything significant/unique about this area? Do you know why they are an enclave and not part of the city?

Thanks for the information.

Just a borough that never permitted itself to be annexed by the city, as many of the surrounding former boroughs -- now neighborhoods, or the markedly less romantic-sounding "wards" -- once did. An interesting and light-hearted, brief read on it on page 2 of [Link] might be of interest.
 
I:6738IndyGeorgia ( 4590.47 points)May 21, 2021 07:59pm
Fascinating. Thanks again!
 
Joker:9757BrentinCO ( 9683.07 points)May 21, 2021 08:16pm
Seems like the kind of place that people stay in for generation after generation.
 
VMan:10380Politicoomer ( -203.26 points)May 23, 2021 08:32pm
the fact that a conservative got 13 percent of the vote
 
D:1989RBH ( 5686.17 points)May 25, 2021 01:36pm
RP: And idea what the wards are for here? There are 32 wards, but only 9 city council districts...

I'm also guessing the Pittsburgh Wards are now pretty much similar to Philadelphia Wards.
 
LBR:1802Old LW ( 596.38 points)July 25, 2021 02:48pm
Pennsylvanian: <q 6738="">Pennsylvanian, a quick question about Mount Oliver. Anything significant/unique about this area? Do you know why they are an enclave and not part of the city?

Thanks for the information.

Just a borough that never permitted itself to be annexed by the city, as many of the surrounding former boroughs -- now neighborhoods, or the markedly less romantic-sounding "wards" -- once did. An interesting and light-hearted, brief read on it on page 2 of [Link] might be of interest.

There's also the Mt. Oliver neighborhood which is right next door to the Mount Oliver borough.