PITTSBURGH — Mayor Luke Ravenstahl spent 50 minutes trying to convince voters that ethical missteps during his 13-month tenure as the youngest mayor of a major U.S. city are not as important as his opponent's party affiliation.

At a debate Tuesday, the 27-year-old Ravenstahl stood by a recent campaign mailer linking his Republican challenger Mark DeSantis with President Bush and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. Among other things, Ravenstahl said the city — which answers to a state-appointed financial oversight board — has lost "significant, significant" federal funds due to Bush and Santorum's policies.

"My opponent has given money to Rick Santorum, my opponent has given money to George Bush. He has supported those policies," Ravenstahl said.

The city received about $21 million annually in federal funds under President Clinton, but about $15 million a year under President Bush. To put those numbers in perspective, the city's pensions are underfunded by $500 million, it is about $800 million to $900 million in debt, and about 25 percent of its proposed $424 million budget is earmarked for debt service.

DeSantis, 48, said the mailer was misleading because he has also given money to Democratic politicians — two still active in city government and a third, Allegheny County prothonotary Michael Lamb, who previously ran for mayor and is now running for city controller.

"Do I agree with everybody in my party? No," DeSantis said. "But the mayor is suggesting the only way people should decide (who to support as mayor) is to rely solely on partisan beliefs."

"You do this silly mailer when you've run out of things to say. You start a dialogue and a conversation about George Bush when you have nothing else to say," DeSantis said.

You also do it when you're the embattled incumbent Democrat in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 5-to-1, who have not elected a Republican mayor since the Great Depression.

Tuesday's debate was sponsored by Point Park University, the League of Women Voters and KDKA-TV.