Tom Murphy’s second mayoral campaign ended successfully less than a mile from where the first began 5 years ago. Fittingly the second celebration was held at Holy Trinity Greek Church on W. North Avenue.
In 1989 on the Allegheny Landing (next to the Sixth Street Bridge) Murphy first announced he would run for Mayor. He then launched a door-to-door campaign that found him finishing second to Sophie Masloff in the primary.
This year things were different. Murphy had the party endorsement. From early in the evening it was clear that Murphy would become the first Pittsburgh Mayor elected that lived on the North Side. With an almost insurmountable 6 to 1 Democratic registration, the contest was never really in doubt.
Unofficial vote totals had Murphy with 57,000 votes or 66% of the total cast.
At 11 pm he told the shouting crowd of over 1,000 wellwishers “I will need your enthusiasm a year from now.”
The Mayor-Elect will take office on January 3, 1994 in what many see as dawn of a new era. In one of his first moves, Murphy had named the former president of the North Side Civic Development Council, Tom Cox as deputy mayor for policy and development.
More North Side names could emerge over the next several weeks as Murphy begins to put together his management team.
