Local News

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his wife Erin have split up after five years of marriage and the mayor has moved out of the home they shared. The mayor reached out to KDKA to share the painful, personal news and for the first time, disclosed the toll the high-profile job has taken on him and their marriage.

The mayor and his wife have filed for a formal separation.

"She doesn't like the limelight. She didn't like the fact that I became the mayor. She doesn't like the public nature of the position," Ravenstahl told KDKA-TV's Marty Griffin.

Griffin:  "Hold on a second.  She really did not like you becoming mayor?"

Ravenstahl:  "Well, I think that she was happy that I did and proud of me,  but I think if she had her choices, she would have just as much assumed that I wasn't the mayor, not a public figure."

Alone in his office Monday night, the mayor admitted for all intents and purposes, his marriage is over.

"I know I'm a public figure. I know it's newsworthy," he said. "Despite the fact that we would love to handle this privately, we know that we can't."

With pictures of his one-year-old son Cooper laid out all over his desk, Ravenstahl said he is the focus.

"We are going to do everything in our power to protect him, to love him and to make sure he grows up as normally as he possibly can considering his dad's the mayor and his parents are going through a very difficult time now publicly. Our goal is to ensure his safety and protection at all times," Ravenstahl said.

Ravenstahl is also concerned about his name, his reputation and rumors of infidelity.

Griffin: "There are rumors you have not been faithful to your wife. You want to address that, sir?"

Ravenstahl: "Erin and I have made the decision that we have. We're not going to sit here and answer specific questions or answer rumors. Those things have been out there for some time. We've agreed to deal with this in a very personal way and we'll continue to do that."

Regarding the rumors, Ravenstahl admits his wife hears them and hates them. He denies any infidelity.

"These are sensitive issues because people will say things that are going to be harmful or attempt to be harmful and we intend to protect our name and to protect our family and will do so really at all cost," he said.

Griffin: "You plan to be very aggressive with people who come out of the woodwork and say, 'The mayor's cheating' or 'The mayor was with this person or that person.' Do you plan on being very aggressive, sir?"

Ravenstahl: "Well again, it's the nature of this business. People will say things."

The pressure, the politics got so bad recently the mayor said he gave serious consideration to dropping out of politics completely – not running for mayor at all.

"When you're the mayor of this city and you're such a public figure - every decision that you make you realize has consequences or has repercussions and [I] was very, very close to not running for this office based on my interest in protecting my family," Ravenstahl said.

In a written statement, Erin Ravenstahl said: "Luke and I have made the formal decision to formally separate. I am a private person so sharing this very personal matter publicly is very difficult for me, but I understand this is something Pittsburgh should know. I will always be Luke's friend and continue to share with him our love of our son Cooper."

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