Ravenstahl Committee Behind New Peduto Attack Ad

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There's a new development in the race for mayor of Pittsburgh.

Some new political ads attack one of the candidates, and it turns out, none of his opponents are behind the ads.

When Mayor Luke Ravenstahl was asked last week if he was going to endorse somebody for mayor, he was clear.

But it is clear there's one man he does not want to see succeed him -- Councilman Bill Peduto.

Recently, an advertisement has started airing on television attacking Peduto.

According to the ad: "Bill Peduto wants to be mayor of Pittsburgh, but Peduto only seems to care about his own district."

The attack ad is sponsored by a group called Committee for a Better Pittsburgh.

Now, KDKA-TV has learned that the chairman of this group is none other than Mayor Luke Ravenstahl -- his name is listed in documents filed with the Federal Communications Committee.

Ravenstahl's Committee for a Better Pittsburgh hired a Republican ad agency – SRCP Media of Arlington, Va., to produce the ad.

That agency has worked for former Sen. Rick Santorum and the anti-John Kerry group known as the Swift Boat Veterans.

So is Ravenstahl picking a candidate for mayor?

"No, I haven't, and I don't plan to," he says.

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