Pittsburgh held a mayoral election on November 3, 2009. Incumbent mayor Luke Ravenstahl, a Democrat, defeated his two independent challengers by a wide margin. The 2009 election was the first regular-cycle election in which Ravenstahl participated; he was originally appointed as an interim mayor to succeed Bob O'Connor and subsequently won a special election in 2007.

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2009 Pittsburgh mayoral election

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Candidate Luke Ravenstahl Franco Dok Harris Kevin Acklin Party Democratic Franco Dok Harris Independent Alliance Republican Popular vote 28,528 13,060 9,903 Percentage 55.2% 25.3% 19.2%

Mayor before election Luke Ravenstahl Democratic Elected Mayor Luke Ravenstahl Democratic

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The primary election was held on May 19, 2009. In the Democratic primary, incumbent Mayor Ravenstahl defeated challengers Patrick Dowd, a Pittsburgh city councilman, and Carmen Robinson, an attorney and former police officer.^[1]

The Republican primary had no names on the ballot for the office of mayor. Ravenstahl, a Democrat, won the Republican mayoral nomination with 607 write-in votes; no other candidate had the 250 write-in votes required to become the Republican nominee.^[2]

Ravenstahl, having been nominated by both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, appeared on the general-election ballot with both affiliations.^[2] He was joined by two other candidates: businessman Franco 'Dok' Harris (the son of Pittsburgh Steelers legend Franco Harris), who ran under the Franco Dok Harris Party, and attorney Kevin Acklin, who ran as an independent.^[3] Ravenstahl's relationship with lobbyist John Verbanac became a campaign issue.^[4]

Ravenstahl defeated both Harris and Acklin by a wide margin, winning over 55 percent of the vote.^[5]