Josh Imhof & Charlotte Shields-Rossi | features editor and a&e editor

After being elected mayor in 2005, Bob O’Connor stood on a corner in Squirrel Hill holding signs that thanked Pittsburghers for their support.

Two decades later, his son, Corey O’Connor, returned to Squirrel Hill on Wednesday to hold up signs of his own as the new Pittsburgh mayor-elect.

On Nov. 4, O’Connor was elected to be the 62nd mayor of Pittsburgh, defeating Republican nominee Tony Moreno and succeeding incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey. O’Connor gave his acceptance speech at the IBEW Local 5 in South Side to hundreds of his supporters.

“I am humbled and inspired by the great honor and privilege of serving as your next mayor,” O’Connor said.

As mayor, O’Connor will immediately face challenges, including picking a new police chief and inheriting a dwindling city budget.

During his speech, O’Connor asked the people of the city to make suggestions to his administration for the future should look like.

“After we are done celebrating tonight, tomorrow the hard work begins. The road that we will travel is long and steeply uphill… This victory is just the beginning, but I cannot do this alone,” he said. “I’m asking you to join me in remaking this great city.”

He also thanked Moreno for his “eagerness” and “willingness” to run.

The Associated Press called the election at 8:26 pm, and as of Wednesday morning, O’Connor had won 87.5% of the votes.

Moreno, who earned the Republican nomination but not the endorsement of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, held his watch party at Moonlite Cafe in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood.

He invited family and friends to join him in his concession speech and reminded his supporters to stay strong and not lose hope. He told both Democrats and Republicans to work to make the city better and expressed gratitude for all those who came out and supported him.

“This was not for nothing,” Moreno said. “I’m comforted by the people that have come and helped us.”

At the beginning of the night, Moreno was hopeful, even if the initial numbers were not in his favor.

During their debates and respective campaigns, O’Connor and Moreno both traded barbs at Gainey for decisions he made during his time as mayor.

City council has also been critical of the incumbent, including during the controversy surrounding former Police Chief Larry Scirotto refereeing Big Ten basketball games after he had agreed not to. Gainey did not inform city council of private conversations he had with Scirotto about allowing him to begin officiating again.

District 1 Councilman Bobby Wilson said he believed O’Connor would foster a cooperative relationship between his administration and city council.

“That type of relationship is really important,” Wilson said. “I think that’s a relationship that we didn’t really see thrive these past four years.”

Jonathan Collins, the president of Duquesne’s chapter of College Republicans, attended the Republican Committee of Allegheny County watch party at the Steel Mill Saloon in Mount Washington and said he wishes O’Connor the best in the future.

“Sincerely, we hope he does good things for the city and Duquesne,” he said.

Nick Miller, Duquesne Student Government Association president, also hoped to see positive changes that will affect Duquesne and other colleges in the area, such as improvements to public transit and development on Fifth Avenue.

“I see a lot of value in that. Whether it’s bringing in more restaurants, more shops, there’s such a busy area with the arena and Duquesne,” Miller said.

Miller interned on O’Connor’s campaign in the spring and attended the watch party. He said that what you see is what you get with the mayor-elect.

“It’s just who he is. He’s a genuine person and he carries that genuineness in every conversation he has,” Miller said. “I think that’s rare today.”

O’Connor, who graduated from Duquesne, told The Duke that he hoped to incentivize people to stay in the city once they graduated.

“We get to you too late right now. We need to get to you when you’re just starting up, and know that Pittsburgh is here to help you,” he said. “Whether you start a business and there are tax incentives, whatever it might be, working together with young entrepreneurs at the universities are only going to help us grow and making sure that they know they can raise their families here.”

As he finished his acceptance speech, O’Connor addressed the city as a whole.

“This is our moment, Pittsburgh,” O’Connor said. “We must seize this moment.”

Kaitlyn Hughes contributed to this report.

Josh Imhof can be reached at imhofj@duq.edu

Charlotte Shields-Rossi can be reached at shieldsrossic@duq.edu