Theresa Smith of Westwood is the Democratic Party's official candidate in the Feb. 3 special election in Pittsburgh City Council District 2.

Ms. Smith crushed the competition in a vote by the district's Democratic committee members, taking 56 of the 75 votes cast. The 49-year-old community activist said she drew from her longtime volunteer experience in the city's western neighborhoods to make her case for the party's nod and plans to do the same with voters district-wide.

She has been president of the Crafton Heights Westwood Ridgemont Community Council and coordinator of the Parent Educational Resource Center for the Pittsburgh Public Schools.