Pittsburgh's Next Mayor: A GMU Grad?

First one went into space. Now a GMU grad is running to be mayor of Pittsburgh:

Mark is the real deal. Mark is smart and sophisticated. He has a PhD from George Mason and long experience at every level of government, including a long stint in DC in Senator John Heinz office and at Office of Science and Technology Policy.

This is a real test for Pittsburgh's future. Denver has John Hickenlooper, New York Michael Bloomberg, Baltimore had Martin O'Malley - the list of progressive mayors leading American cities cleaning up after decades of machine politics is long and impressive. Pittsburgh has had none of it. Pittsburgh's current mayor Luke Ravenstahl is by all accounts tied the the machine and an empty suit. Mark, while a long shot, would be a real shot in the arm for my former hometown.

Read a recent profile in the Post-Gazette here (via Mike Madison's terrific Pittsblog).