Initially, Luke Ravenstahl had indicated an intention to seek reelection in the 2013 election and had led early Democratic primary polling.

Luke Ravenstahl, as president of the Pittsburgh City Council, was subsequently sworn in and assumed office as mayor.

Nonetheless, Ravenstahl won the election by a wide margin to serve out the remainder of O'Connor's term, ending in 2010.

[5] In the general election, the cross-filed Ravenstahl faced and ultimately defeated independent candidates Franco "Dok" Harris, son of former Pittsburgh Steelers player Franco Harris, and Kevin Acklin, who would eventually become Bill Peduto's Mayoral Chief of Staff after the 2013 election.

[14] In addition, Bill Peduto, who had run for Mayor of Pittsburgh in 2005 (losing in the primary to fellow Democratic City Councilman and eventual winner Bob O'Connor) and again for a short time in the 2007 special election before dropping out prior to the primary, announced his candidacy in December 2012 and was immediately endorsed by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

[15] City Controller Michael Lamb, who stated that he had "every intention"[16] of running for mayor, declared his candidacy in mid-January 2013.

[17] Jack Wagner, former Auditor General of Pennsylvania, also publicly expressed interest in the race and filed a petition to run in March.

[19] Polling conducted between late December 2012 to mid-January 2013 by Civic Science found that a race between Luke Ravenstahl and Bill Peduto would be within single digit percentage points.

[14][22] The announcement came amid an investigation of fund use at the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, although Ravenstahl did not make any indication that this had contributed to his decision to withdraw.

[24][25] In early March 2013, following the withdrawal of incumbent mayor Luke Ravenstahl, a poll conducted by Keystone Analytics found that Bill Peduto was leading the race, garnering the support of 30 percent of respondents.

At this point, seven candidates had formally filed petitions to run for Mayor of Pittsburgh: Jim Ferlo, Darlene Harris, Michael Lamb, Bill Peduto, A. J. Richardson, Jake Wheatley and Jack Wagner.

Allegheny County Councilman Bill Robinson stated that he would run for mayor despite not meeting the deadline for petitions to appear on the ballot.

[28] On the same day, Jack Wagner received endorsements from Pittsburgh police and firefighter unions, as well as former candidate and State Senator Jim Ferlo.

[31] Also on April 3, local media reported that candidate A. J. Richardson was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence after having been found by police passed out in his vehicle.

Following his release from jail, Richardson dismissed the allegation as an attempt to sabotage his candidacy for mayor and expressed an intention to continue his campaign.

[33] Two additional polls, released in late April and mid-May by Keystone Analytics, showed Peduto regaining the lead in the primary race.

[34] A poll released in mid-May, with a plus or minus 4.9 percent margin of error, suggested that Peduto had expanded his lead over Wagner.

[61][62] Ultimately, Bill Peduto defeated both Wander and Ludwig to be elected as the 60th Mayor of Pittsburgh and was inaugurated to succeed Luke Ravenstahl in January 2014.