City controller drops mayoral election bid, endorses Wagner

City Controller Michael Lamb withdrew from the Pittsburgh mayoral race Monday and endorsed fellow Democratic candidate and former State Auditor General Jack Wagner.

During a brief statement in his Greenfield campaign office, Lamb, who received the Allegheny County Democratic Committee’s endorsement, said he and Wagner share the values instilled in them through their Pittsburgh upbringing.

“Jack Wagner is both a friend of organized labor and of Pittsburgh’s business community,” Lamb said. “And as someone who grew up in the same community as me, he understands that we need to focus on our communities, as growth in all our neighborhoods helps us all.”

Lamb’s announcement essentially transforms the mayoral race into a two-person contest, since he and Councilman Bill Peduto have out-fundraised the mayoral race’s two other candidates, State Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny, and bus monitor A.J. Richardson, by a wide margin thus far.

In light of Lamb’s announcement, a reinvigorated Peduto said in a press release that the choice for Pittsburgh’s next mayor is now clear.

“We have built a new coalition of people who understand what Pittsburgh can be,” Peduto said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to earn the support of voters all over the city and working to reach this vision together.”

Wheatley commended Lamb’s work as city controller and as a candidate in a press release, but he also said he was prepared for the final stretch of his campaign heading into the May 21 Democratic primary.

“As we move into the last 50 days of this campaign, now more than ever, I am committed to presenting the people of Pittsburgh an agenda that will end the politics as usual and move our city forward under the premise that we will only truly claim prosperity if all our citizens are prospering,” Wheatley said.

Richardson, who has campaigned largely as a non-political outsider, said he was largely indifferent to Lamb’s departure from the mayoral race, though he did acknowledge that having fewer candidates in the race increased his odds of winning.

Lamb’s decision to end his mayoral campaign is yet another chapter in an already eventful race, highlighted by current Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s decision last month to not run for re-election.

Last week, Councilwoman Darlene Harris and State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Allegheny — who both announced their candidacies after Ravenstahl publicly announced his decision to not pursue a third term — withdrew from the race despite receiving enough signatures to appear on the ballot.

Although March 27 was the final day to withdraw from the race, Lamb plans to file a court order to remove himself from the ballot, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The candidates vying for mayor will be on Pitt’s campus tonight for a debate at the O’Hara Student Center Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. The event will be hosted by Pitt’s student-run radio station, 92.1 WPTS-FM, and student-run publication Pitt Political Review.