Robert E. O'Connor Jr. (December 9, 1944 – September 1, 2006) was an American politician who was the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from January 3, 2006, until his death. Personal life and early career Born in the Greenfield neighborhood, and a longtime resident of Squirrel Hill, O'Connor graduated from Pittsburgh's Taylor Allderdice High School in 1962 and was inducted into their alumni hall of fame in 2011. He worked briefly as a steelworker, and then entered the restaurant business. He eventually became executive vice-president of the Pappan chain of restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. He and his wife, Judy Levine O'Connor, had one daughter, Heidy Garth, and two sons, Terrence, who became a Catholic priest, and Corey, a Pittsburgh city councilman who represented the same district as his father from 2012 until 2022. 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 and, on January 3, 2006, he was sworn into office as mayor. 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.