PITTSBURGH, PA, United States (UPI) — Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O`Connor died of brain cancer Friday night at 61, less than a year after his election to a post he had sought for years.

A spokesman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette O`Connor`s family was with him when he died at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside Hospital.

City Council President Luke Ravenstahl was sworn in as mayor at 10:30 p.m., less than two hours after O`Connor`s death.

O`Connor won the mayor`s race last November in his third try for the office. The newspaper characterized him as an energetic executive, leading a campaign to clean up the city in time for the Major League All-Star Game in July.

Shortly before the All-Star break, he was diagnosed with cancer. He spent the day of the game getting his first chemotherapy treatment.

O`Connor got into politics by running for the city council at age 45, after five years as a steel worker at Jones & Laughlin and a career as an executive with a restaurant company.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

Source: Monster and Critics