Standing amid the ruins of another lost Pittsburgh mayoral election, Republican Party leaders maintained a spirit of optimism and resolve.

"We've made some tremendous strides. We are making progress," said Joe Weinroth, the GOP candidate who lost to Bob O'Connor in the 2005 race. "We are raising the issues and getting more people involved."

Amid such optimism, a little bit of frustrating realism creeps in.

"But the numbers are overwhelming here," he said.

The numbers, of course, are the totals of registered voters -- a 5-to-1 Democratic advantage -- that time and again are reflected in the results at the polls.

Last week, Democratic incumbent Luke Ravenstahl collected 63 percent of the votes cast to defeat Republican challenger Mark DeSantis. According to an unofficial tally, of the 43,257 votes Mr. Ravenstahl received, 21,727 -- just over 50 percent -- were courtesy of voters who chose the straight Democratic Party ticket.

Pittsburgh hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1929, when Charles Kline defeated Democrat Thomas Dunn. What does the future hold for the city's Republican Party?

"First of all, it has to have had a past to have a future," said William Green, 62, a Republican political consultant. "This is a one-party town, and it has been from 1933 onward. It's been controlled by Democrats longer than the Communist Party controlled Moscow."

Mr. Green pointed out that the Republican Party has had statewide success, but it has not been able to dent the Democratic strongholds here or in Philadelphia. To do so, he said, the GOP should start small, planting seeds that could bear fruit in years to come. And then start converting Democrats.

"Try to win a City Council seat, get a place at the table. ... It's not so much the Republicans building a party as Democrats coming around to the party," he said.

Mike DeVanney, 28, who was deputy campaign manager for Mr. DeSantis' campaign, said the quality of the candidates is part of the problem.

"We can't run good candidates only every 40 years," Mr. DeVanney said. "We have to have quality candidates. We are operating under very, very difficult conditions with this registration disadvantage. But we have to keep at it."

Mr. DeVanney said the GOP should be able to use Mr. DeSantis' race as a springboard.

"Mark will be the trailblazer," he said. "Other people who care about Pittsburgh will follow his lead. That begins the process of building a party, some form of opposition and challenging the machine-style politics that have dominated this region and, I would argue, hurt this region for some time."

But it takes time, he said.

"When you look at big races in other cities where Republicans have won, they were well thought out and well planned a year or two in advance," he said. "Look what we accomplished in five brief months. And there really isn't much of an organization here."

Mr. Weinroth, 48, is an attorney and a lifelong resident of Squirrel Hill. His parents, both of whom were Holocaust survivors, immigrated to America. Upon becoming citizens, they registered as Democrats.

"When I turned 18, I had no doubt about which political party I wanted to belong to," he said of his becoming a Republican. "The Democratic Party, in my opinion, is not the party of my parents or the World War II generation. I believe in less government and the strict stewardship of tax dollars."

Mr. Weinroth said it is hard to get good Republican candidates to run because it is such an uphill struggle. Before he decided to challenge Mr. O'Connor, his party spent a year looking for someone else willing to run.

"The frustrating thing [is that] most voters couldn't tell you which candidate was which if they just looked at their positions on the issues. But the Democrat wins because he's a Democrat. Trying to get voters to be open-minded is the real battle."

Having a healthy debate, however, is winning part of the battle. For example, he said, the revitalization of the city's Ethics Hearing Board grew out of his debate with Mr. O'Connor. Mr. Weinroth lost the election, but he says he can point to that as evidence that the Republican candidate is meaningful.

As in every election campaign, money is a central issue. Mr. Weinroth's campaign spent less than $20,000 in 2005. Mr. DeSantis was able to raise a great deal more, $400,000. But still more is necessary.

"People are reluctant to invest in a campaign where they know there is very little likelihood of a positive outcome," Mr. Weinroth said. "They want to use the resources where they feel it will have an impact. And that's not only Republican voters, but the county party, the state committee and all the way up and down the line. Nobody wants to invest because they don't think it's going to do any good in Pittsburgh."

For a Republican to win anytime soon, he said, would require "a catastrophic-type problem" -- like a major scandal or the city having to declare bankruptcy -- "that may cause people to open their eyes. Short of that, it's hard to get people to change."

The goal, he said, is to make sure that when the people come to the realization that they need and deserve an alternative, the Republican Party is ready to present one.

"People always say they're willing to vote for the better candidate," he said, "but in Pittsburgh, that means the better candidate as long as he's a Democrat."

Another problem, he said, is that it is hard to cultivate a crop of young Republicans when the young population of Pittsburgh is so transitory, going away to college or pursuing employment elsewhere after graduation.

"As vice chairman of the Republican Party of Pittsburgh, I can tell you we're constantly trying to grow the party, and the primary way is to recruit new committee members. There are 808 [committee] seats for each political party ... and we have less than 200 of those filled."

Jim Roddey, 74, of Oakmont, is a Republican who has been able to win an election, in 1999, when he became the county's first chief executive. He sees his party's problem as twofold.

"Look at this last election," he said. "Only 28 percent of the voters turn out. That's very disappointing.

"Secondly, the voters that turn out are people who routinely vote, motivated by their ward leaders and labor unions and special interests, and unfortunately, the average citizen doesn't feel that it is important enough to get out and vote. That works against change."

Mr. Roddey speaks from experience. His father was a Democrat and he was, too.

"There are people who have grown up in Pittsburgh, as in many cities where there is a large blue-collar work force, and they've grown up with great-grandfathers and grandfathers who were all Democrats," Mr. Roddey said. "They're just not going to change no matter who's running."

What will it take to get a Republican elected mayor of Pittsburgh?

"We need three things," he said. "A good candidate, a million dollars, and about four times as many Republicans in the city as we now have."

If not Republicans, at least more open-minded Democrats willing to vote the candidate rather than the party. Mr. Roddey, for example, said county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, the man who beat him in 2003, has "done a good job." Even though Mr. Onorato was unopposed and certain to win re-election last week, Mr. Roddey voted for him.

But Mr. Green said that the Republicans' failure to field a candidate to oppose Mr. Onorato was part of the problem. The GOP also failed to challenge in the county controller, district attorney, treasurer and five County Council races.

"The focus should have been on the county chief executive. How do you not put up a candidate against Dan Onorato?" Mr. Green said. "He should have been challenged, and he got a pass. Had they run somebody, it would have been competitive. The candidate would have gotten at least 40, 45 percent of the vote and made a race of it. There was a whole opportunity lost.

"My belief is that you should just cede the city to the Democratic Party and work in the county where the Republican Party has an opportunity to grow and expand. Trying to do anything in the city, above winning a City Council seat or two, is quixotic, at best. The election that means anything in this city is still the Democratic primary.

"I know I sound awfully pessimistic, but I'm not. I'm being realistic. There have been leadership gaps in the Republican Party here, and the statewide party focuses on winning county elections and neglects the inner cities."

Perhaps, Mr. Green said, giving up the idea of electing a Republican mayor of Pittsburgh isn't pessimistic or realistic. It's just smart.

"The Democrats have controlled this city, they've put it in bankruptcy," he said. "I've advised Republicans over the years, 'Why would you even want to be mayor of this city?' Let the Democrats who created this mess fix it.

"It's a challenge that is extremely difficult for a job that I'm not sure is all that attractive or rewarding."