Luke Ravenstahl won every city ward on the way to re-election as mayor of Pittsburgh yesterday but fell short of his past shares of the vote as he heads into a full term's challenges.

"I'm ready to lead. I need your support," Mr. Ravenstahl told a crowd at Mullen's Bar and Grill on the North Shore after walking onto a makeshift stage to the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up."

"We got it done in this election, but there's more work to do."

The vote sends Mr. Ravenstahl into a four-year term as he heads towards a potential showdown with big colleges and health systems, a controversial bid to fill a pension chasm, and a dance with an independent-minded council.

The mayor called it "an overwhelming victory."

Some voters, though, seemed underwhelmed, and the turnout of around 50,000 votes was far below the 68,898 who cast votes in the 2007 mayoral special election, which Mr. Ravenstahl won with 63 percent of the vote.

Writer Dane Topich epitomized general voter disinterest as he left the South Side Market House after voting. He didn't like any candidate, saying he yearned for "new ideas. ... candidates who have accomplished something."

He didn't think any of the three options fit the bill. "I voted for the incumbent."

No Democratic mayoral nominee has gotten a lower share of the vote since 1977, when Tom Foerster was bested by Democrat-turned-Independent Richard Caliguiri.

"I think the mayor and everyone else were victims of the low turnout; a lot of people presumed the race was over," said state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park.

Mr. Ravenstahl beat second-place finisher Franco Dok Harris, an Independent, more than two-to-one. Fellow Independent Kevin Acklin took a smaller slice of the anti-incumbent vote.

Mr. Harris, who got around one-quarter of the vote, called that "a start."

"People here are crying out for a leader. I hope one day to answer the call."

Mr. Acklin said he, too, would continue to be involved in civic matters.

Gone now, political watchers said, should be the perception that Pittsburgh has a fill-in mayor who can refer to inexperience, an unplanned ascent and inherited staff, as Mr. Ravenstahl did early in his tenure.

"He can't be perceived as young Luke anymore," said Gerald Shuster, a professor of political communication at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Communications. "He can't go off on negative behavioral antics anymore. He's got to prove that this city has some problems, he is attempting solutions, and he has to bring results."

Elected to council in 2003, Mr. Ravenstahl rose from that body's presidency to the city's top office upon the Sept. 1, 2006, death of Mayor Bob O'Connor. He beat Republican Mark DeSantis in a 2007 special election, then got 59 percent to best fellow Democrats Patrick Dowd and Carmen Robinson in May. He also won the Republican nomination as a write-in.

Mr. Harris, 30, used his famed running back father, an upbeat emphasis on neighborhoods and small businesses, and a late-in-the-game accusation that Mr. Ravenstahl was a frequent no-show.

Mr. Acklin, 33, who had waged an insurgent Republican bid for Allegheny County Council against Chuck McCullough in 2007, focused on public safety and accused the mayor of coziness with developers.

Mr. Ravenstahl largely ignored the election during the run-up to the Sept. 24-25 G-20 summit of world leaders. Viewed as a high-risk event at the time because of the inevitability of protests, it apparently paid off politically, with some voters citing it as evidence of the mayor's cool-headedness.

Mr. Ravenstahl can finally govern without an election looming.

"This will be the first time in three years he's been without an election hanging over his head," said political analyst William J. Green. "It gives Luke and his people time to exhale."

Not much time, though.

On Monday, the mayor must present a $452.8 million budget to council that, he said, will include specific new tax proposals. They may include taxes on college tuition bills and hospital bills. Educational and medical institutions have said they will defend their mostly-tax-exempt status, meaning a court fight might ensue.

Most of that hoped-for new revenue, plus the proceeds from a long-term lease of public parking garages that will likely boost parking rates, will be needed to restore a pension fund that at last count held around one-third of the $899 million needed to cover its obligations.

"Certainly, the next four years are going to be tougher than the last two, from the financial perspective," said city Controller Michael Lamb. "Somewhere down the line, he's got to be considering some expenditure cuts" and potentially consolidation of some functions with the county.

Any such moves would have to win passage from a council that was feisty for the last two years, and stands to be more challenging with the departure of mayoral ally Jim Motznik and possibly Tonya Payne. Mr. Motznik was elected district judge, to be replaced by fellow Democrat Natalia Rudiak. Ms. Payne's backers tried to reverse her Democratic primary loss to Daniel Lavelle via a write-in campaign yesterday, and those votes weren't tallied last night.

The mayor said he hoped that with the political tumult behind him, he could forge stronger relationships with council.

"We need their support," he said of council, "and I look forward to hearing their ideas.

"If they're willing to work with us, we're willing to work with them."

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