It’s easy to dismiss Tony Moreno and his chances in his race for mayor of Pittsburgh. The retired city police officer is running as the Republican nominee, and the last time Pittsburgh had a Republican mayor was 1934.

But for Moreno, it is not about political parties. He ran and lost in the 2021 Democratic primary for mayor, then ran as a Republican in the general election, losing to Ed Gainey. He is now running as a Republican, but without the support of the Republican Party that nominated him.

If you tell Moreno that some people think he has a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning this race, he smiles and says, “The only way I don’t have a chance is if I’m not on the ballot. I’m a believer.”

After a couple of hours with Moreno at a sidewalk table at La Prima Espresso in the Strip District, even a skeptic could see how voters might become believers. He stood to greet a steady stream of people, most of whom approached him with some version of, “Hey, aren’t you that guy who’s running for mayor?”

They were excited to see him, and he mixed it up with them. As Moreno says, “I talk to the people, not the politicians.”

Throughout the steaming summer, with no war chest and when most campaigns are running silent, Moreno has campaigned by posting videos on Facebook.

These videos show that he is an equal opportunity critic of both the Democratic and Republican parties, with few kind words for any incumbent. But they also support his simple campaign platform: “Keep our streets safe. Keep our streets clean.”

In one video, standing in front of Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side, he points to the lane reduction along North Avenue that will impede emergency vehicles and the public, as designed by city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI). “This is stupid,” he says.

Moreno uses excerpts from state law and official Pennsylvania transportation reports to prove his point. He contends DOMI relies on bogus studies to support what it has already decided to do, whether it is bike lanes or speed bumps or roundabouts.

“They make fairy tales into policy,” Moreno says.

As a police officer, Moreno worked patrol, plainclothes and narcotics. He arrested plenty of criminals. And he is confident that he can handle the crime that continues to jeopardize our Downtown economy because he has done it before.

On his website, he also talks about partnering “with business owners and community leaders to assist Pittsburgh’s homeless population and those struggling with mental illness and drug addiction.”

Moreno believes the timing is right for his message.

Two incumbent mayors were defeated in four years because the voters wanted change and didn’t get it. Mayor Ed Gainey continued many of the failed policies of Mayor Bill Peduto, and Moreno says Democratic candidate Corey O’Connor will do the same.

O’Connor has already created some doubts about his willingness to take on the legacy of the Peduto administration.

That administration created DOMI, shut down the police academy and failed to act on numerous engineering reports about the imminent danger of a failing Fern Hollow Bridge.

As for the long odds Moreno faces, the former military police paratrooper sees himself as the underdog in a David and Goliath struggle against both political parties and powerful public officials. And he wants us to do this: “Remember how that turned out.”

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