FOP Endorsements

==Insights==
===Endorsements in April 2009===
Ravenstahl gets FOP endorsement
:April 30, 2009 By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh's police union today announced its backing of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in the May 19, 2009, Democratic primary election.
The endorsement caps off two years of improving relations between the mayor and the Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, which supported Mark DeSantis, Mr. Ravenstahl's Republican opponent, in the 2007 general election.
"Our relationship with the mayor started off a little rocky," Detective Charles Hanlon, the FOP vice president, said at a news conference this morning. "But over the past two years we have seen leadership qualities in the mayor that we believe are going to enhance both the city of Pittsburgh police department and the citizens of the city of Pittsburgh."
Detective Hanlon praised the mayor for backing millions of dollars in spending on new police vehicles and showing steady support for the bureau in the wake of the fatal shootings of three police officers on April 4, 2009, in Stanton Heights.
"He was on scene before the gunfire ended, and he hasn't left our side since," Detective Hanlon said.
In 2007, the FOP gave its nod to Mr. DeSantis largely because of its desire to end the requirement that officers live in the city. Mr. Ravenstahl insisted that city employees live in the city.
In accepting the endorsement today, Mr. Ravenstahl said he never held a grudge as a result of the 2007 snub because he views public safety as a top issue for his administration.
"It would have been very easy for me to turn my back on the FOP," the mayor said. "But I didn't do that because public safety is too important. The police are too important."
The FOP currently has 1,951 members, including active and retired officers. The union's seven-member political action committee decides on endorsements after candidate interviews and consultations with members.
"We support the people who support police," said former Fraternal Order of Police President James Malloy.
====Other endorsed candidates:====
* Pittsburgh City Council: Theresa Smith, Tonya Payne, Patrick Reilly and Bill Peduto. 
* Sheriff: Bill Mullen 
* Allegheny County Common Pleas Court: Don Walko, Michele Zappala Peck, Susan Evashavik DiLucente, Arnie Klein and Jennifer Satler. 
* Commonwealth Court: Al Frioni. 
* Superior Court: Robert Colville and Kevin Francis McCarthy. 
* Supreme Court: Joan Orie Melvin 
* Magistrate Judges: Jim Motznik, Robert Ravenstahl and Anthony Ceoffe 
* Allegheny Count Council: Jim Ellenbogen