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Bob O'Connor (mayor) : biography
December 9, 1944 - September 1, 2006

Robert E. O'Connor, Jr. (December 9, 1944 – September 1, 2006) was the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from January 3, 2006, until his death.

Personal life and early career

He and his wife, Judy Levine O'Connor, had one daughter, Heidy Garth, and two sons, Corey and Terrence. Father Terry O'Connor is a Roman Catholic priest, currently the pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux of Munhall, Pennsylvania. Corey is currently representing the same neighborhoods that his father represented on Pittsburgh City Council.

Political career

O'Connor's political career began with his first election to Pittsburgh City Council in 1991. He served on the council under mayors Sophie Masloff and Tom Murphy.

He challenged Murphy in the Democratic primaries for mayor in 1997 and 2001. The 2001 race was especially contentious, as there was a five-way Democratic party primary. Both O'Connor and Murphy spent more than $1 million on their respective campaigns and in the end earned around 30,000 votes each in a very close race. O'Connor lost the race by 699 votes, and conceded the race several days after the primary.

In 1998, he was elected as City Council President and later resigned from the City Council in 2003 to work for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.
Mayoral election

In 2005, O'Connor did not face Tom Murphy, who decided to not seek a fourth term as mayor. O'Connor was able to raise the most money, collect many endorsements,establish the energetic and dedicated "Delta Team" led by Bob "Jabo" Jablonowski, and beat a group of challengers. Among the runners up in the May 17 Democratic primary were Bill Peduto, a member of the City Council, and Michael Lamb, a County Row Office Holder. On November 8, O'Connor defeated Republican lawyer Joe Weinroth, winning the mayoral office. On January 3, 2006, he was sworn into office.
Legacy as mayor

While in office and after his death, O'Connor was widely referred to as "The People's Mayor." A lifelong sports fan, O'Connor took office soon before the Pittsburgh Steelers' win in Super Bowl XL.

During his brief tenure, O'Connor started the "Redd Up Pittsburgh" campaign. ("Redd up" is a Pittsburgh English term which means "to clean up" or "straighten up".),http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/redduppgh/index.html and strongly emphasized the positives of the city. Each month, from November 2006 to November 2007, local volunteer organizationhttp://www.pittsburghcares.org Pittsburgh Cares hosted a "Redd Up Pittsburgh" day in a different neighborhood to honor him. On November 17, 2006, the O'Connor family was presented with the Hall of Fame Shining Lights Award for the former mayor's "Redd Up Pittsburgh" initiative. He was the first to receive this award.

Edited from http://www.fampeople.com/cat-bob-oconnor-mayor