Beating the nearest competitor by over 30 points and winning every precinct, independent candidate Erika Strassburger fended off both parties’ nominees and another independent to take her former boss Dan Gilman’s old seat on Pittsburgh city council.
Strassburger won 64 percent of the vote in the District 8 race, which includes the neighborhoods on Point Breeze and Shady Side as well as parts of Squirrel Hill and Oakland. Democrat Sonja Finn, a chef and restaurateur captured just under 28 percent. Republican Rennick Remley scored seven percent of the vote, and independent Marty Healey took one percent.