Ravenstahl to face Socialist

It turns out Luke Ravenstahl won’t be the youngest candidate in Pittsburgh’s fall election … It turns out Luke Ravenstahl won’t be the youngest candidate in Pittsburgh’s fall election

24-year old Ryan Scott announced his candidacy for the office of Pittsburgh mayor last week, running on the Socialist Workers Party ticket. Initially a write-in candidate, Scott collected more than 2,000 signatures – well over the 800-odd signatures needed – in order to get his name on the ballot.

Last Saturday, the Socialist Workers Party launched their mayoral campaign with a rally outside its offices in East Liberty.

In a telephone interview, Scott conveyed his conviction that “capitalist elections don’t solve the real issues” facing the working population, but that his campaign for the mayoral election seeks to work within these confines while aiming for a less-conventional outcome.

His platform will focus largely on the rights of immigrant workers.

“We look at the example of the immigrants fighting [for workers’ rights] as a road forward to organize the labor movement, build unions and defend the working class,” Scott said.

Scott’s platform will also include fighting on behalf of unions, against the continuance of the Iraq War and safeguarding abortion rights. To promote his alliance with pro-choice groups, Scott held a recent fundraiser at Allegheny Reproductive Health Center, an abortion provider in East Liberty.

Although his youth might signify otherwise, Scott is not a newcomer to the political process. After joining the Young Socialists, Scott ran on the SWP platform for District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003.

After losing that race, Scott moved to Pittsburgh the following year to campaign for the Socialist presidential candidate in the 2004 election.

Now employed locally as a meatpacker, Scott claims that he received much of his political development on the job, working in various mines around the Pittsburgh region over the last two years.

A self-professed “military-brat,” Scott grew up at a number of U.S. military bases around the world, spending time in Japan, Missouri, and Texas.

Scott attended high school in Oakland, Calif., and then finished one year of college at California Statue University of Monterey Bay.

Alongside Scott, Cynthia Jaquith will run on the SWP ticket for the District 9 city council seat.

With the odds stacked against him, Scott betrays no signs of nervousness in his run against the more popular and well-funded Ravenstahl.

“I’m not a politician, I’m a revolutionary,” he said.