“I never doubted our victory. I always believed we would win, because I believed in all of you. I believed in the residents of District 4, I believed in our power and our voice, our work ethic and integrity, our love for our neighborhoods and our city, and our desire to bring the investment to our neighborhoods that we deserve,” said Rudiak.

Rudiak announced her candidacy in January and spent the last four months building a grass roots campaign that centered around community organizing and neighborhood investment.

Born and raised in Carrick, Rudiak attended Carrick High, received her Master’s degree in management and technology from Carnegie Mellon University and bought a home on Brownsville road. She established herself in the community as a tireless community advocate, serving as the Vice President of the Carrick Community Council, helping to found the Carrick-Overbrook Historical Society, and working diligently in community groups such as the Brookline Block Watch and The Beechview Area Concerned Citizens, Overbrook Community Council and Pretty Up Beechview.

“As your City Councilmember I promise to be a bridge-builder, and fight for the investment that we deserve. But this isn’t the end of a journey – this is just the beginning. In order to build a better Pittsburgh, I need your help. So please join me these next four years, as we strive to find creative solutions and recruit the talent and investment necessary to address the important issues in our community. We have a lot of work to do.”

“The Post-Gazette endorsement is an honor and I think a reflection of the community first, issues oriented campaign we have run,” said Rudiak. “The people of district 4 will have their say on May 19th, but this endorsement is just another indication that we are running a winning campaign.”

“On May 19th, Natalia Rudiak is the best choice hands down,” The Post-Gazette said, also calling Natalia “hard-working and temperamentally ready for the rigors of the office.”

Natalia Rudiak, 29, of Carrick is well-known as someone who can be found at community meetings throughout the district on any given night. She is active in a half-dozen neighborhood organizations committed to improving the local quality of life.

The self-employed consultant was a Coro leadership fellow and an employee of Deloitte Consulting. Ms. Rudiak is a graduate of Carrick High School and George Washington University. She has a master’s in public policy from Carnegie Mellon University and has studied at the London School of Economics.

Ms. Rudiak’s candidacy is timely because her academic background is integral to both her community activism and political aspirations. She’s combined a natural bent toward public policy with a compassion that keeps her rooted in the community where she grew up.

Because of her background with nonprofits and community groups, Ms. Rudiak is poised to bring about much-needed revival of the business districts. She’s comfortable with complexity and understands that District 4 is part of a larger city mosaic. She’s progressive, hard-working and temperamentally ready for the rigors of the office.

Thanks to her hard work in District 4, she’s won the endorsements of diverse groups representing teachers, environmentalists, government employees and food workers. Add to this list the endorsement of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. For District 4 Democrats on May 19, Natalia Rudiak is the best choice hands down.

The full endorsement can be read at post-gazette.com.

From the endorsement:

She has shown that she believes in us and our community. Where others see only the lost past, or point only to the problems and struggles of the present, Natalia sees the good, the upright, the future. She has the intellect, the sensibilities, and most of all the goodness of motivation to work hard and to help us all move forward in new, exciting and inventive ways so that our future not only embraces our historic past, but more importantly is inclusive of our multifaceted present as well. This is what P.U.B. is all about, and this is why we enthusiastically support Natalia Rudiak for City Council from District 4.

Read the full post here.

Natalia Rudiak is releasing the following statement:

“The thousands of hard-working families of South Pittsburgh are the most important part of this election, not the insulting politics of these battling political factions. We need safer streets, cleaner neighborhoods, and leadership we can trust, not more game playing and political drama that obscure the real problems we face.

“I am tired of this soap-opera-politics, and I think the voters are too.

“I am running to protect our neighborhoods from neglect and crime, to rebuild our business districts, and to restore public trust in government. The hard-working residents of our district have been left out of the conversation of how to build a better Pittsburgh because of old style political gamesmanship like this. It’s time to bring new energy and ideas to our district and to elect the kind of leadership that we deserve.

“We need to respect the voters and raise the level of discourse in this race. Our friends, family, and neighbors deserve better.”

“Our campaign would be nowhere without our fantastic volunteers. Our presence in the neighborhoods is strong and that is what will carry the day on May 19th,” Natalia said, “I would like to thank everyone in the community for their robust support thus far, and their continued support as we march toward victory on Election Day!”

Natalia needs help if she is going to talk to every voter in her district, won’t you volunteer some of your time to come out and talk to voters with Natalia? Call the campaign office at 412-277-2901 or email pete@nataliarudiak.com to schedule your canvassing shift.

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