Another candidate is joining the Pittsburgh mayor's race this year: Republican Joe Weinroth, a Downtown attorney and member of the party's state committee.

Getting into the race is easy for the Squirrel Hill native, but winning it will be another matter: There has not been a Republican mayor in the city in 71 years, every elected city official from the mayor down to the school board is a Democrat and registered Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats 5-to-1.

The election is usually decided by whoever wins the Democratic nomination in the spring primary -- this year on May 17. Allegheny County Prothonotary Michael Lamb and former City Council President Bob O'Connor are already in that race and city Councilman William Peduto will make his run for the nomination official today.

Weinroth, 46, said the time is right, with the city's fiscal problems, for a mayor to bring a new perspective to the job.

"Primarily it's a question of, do people want more of the same with the other candidates? Or is Pittsburgh willing to change, turn its economy and fiscal situation around and entertain new ideas?" Weinroth said yesterday.

So far, Weinroth is the only Republican running, but city GOP Chairman Bob Hillen said other candidates could get into the race. The filing deadline is March 8 and the committee is holding its endorsement vote later that month.

Weinroth graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1980 and its law school in 1983. Besides being a member of the Republican State Committee and vice chairman of the party's city committee, he founded a local chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2003.

He ran for office once before, unsuccessfully challenging Peduto for the District 8 council seat in the 2001 general election. Peduto got 77 percent of the vote to Weinroth's 23 percent.

Peduto, 40, of Point Breeze, is running for re-election to council this year while also running for mayor. His official announcement will be at 9:30 a.m. today on the South Side, though volunteers have been collecting nomination petitions for the mayor's race since last week.

He is expected to release components of what he calls a "new urban agenda for Pittsburgh," that includes proposed changes to economic development, public transit and budget policies.