Mayoral elections produce many ‘firsts’
Across the country, firsts were the order of the day in Tuesday’s contested mayoral races.
Women won mayoral titles for the first time ever in Atlanta, Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio. In Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, a city administrator under former mayors Andrew Young and Maynard Jackson, narrowly avoided a runoff. She picked up just over 50 percent of the vote to hold off challenges by City Council President Robb Pitts and Spelman College Professor Gloria Bromell-Tinubu. With Atlantans fed up over perceived corruption in outgoing Mayor Bill Campbell’s City Hall, the race focused heavily on the candidates’ outsider credentials.
In Cleveland, Jane Campbell topped former Clinton Administration official Raymond Pierce in a race that was marked by racial tension. Campbell, a former Cuyahoga County commissioner, garnered 54 percent of the vote by uniting diverse and often conflicting groups. Her support came from business and labor leaders, as well as neighborhood activists.
In Dayton, State Sen. Rhine McLin beat two-term incumbent Mike Turner by fewer than 1,000 votes. McLin, a Democrat, got 51 percent of the vote in a city in which Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
Gus Garcia overwhelmed his opponents in Austin, Texas, taking 60 percent of the vote to become Travis County’s first Hispanic mayor. And in Toledo, Ohio, Jack Ford got 61 percent of the vote to become that city’s first black mayor.
Other races of note:
In the battle of the television anchors, incumbent Charles Luken beat back a challenge from Courtis Fuller to retain his job as mayor of Cincinnati. Changes in the city’s charter mean that Luken will become Cincinnati’s first “strong mayor” in 76 years.
Since 1926, the city council candidate with the highest vote total has been declared mayor. This year, that title would have gone to political neophyte David Pepper, who, along with David Crowley, became the only new faces on Cincinnati’s 26-member city council.
Criticized for his actions following the April shooting by Cincinnati police of an unarmed black man, Luken, a Democrat, relied on strong Republican support to overcome a strong campaign by Fuller. The two formerly were co-anchors at Cincinnati’s WLWT television station. Luken won with 55 percent of the vote.
Republican Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who spent more than $50 million on the campaign, edged Democrat Mark Green to become mayor of New York. Bloomberg rode a last-minute endorsement by outgoing Mayor Rudy Giuliani to victory in the heavily Democratic city.
In Miami, two high-profile candidates will compete in a runoff next Tuesday. Maurice Ferre, who served as mayor from 1973 to 1985, led the city during the Mariel boatlift and the Liberty City race riots. Manny Diaz, a prominent local lawyer, made a national name for himself by representing the “Miami relatives” of Elian Gonzalez. Ferre received 31 percent of the vote, and Diaz garnered almost 24 percent. Incumbent Joe Carollo, the city’s controversial mayor, took 23 percent of the vote and did not make the runoff.
In Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick took 54 percent of the vote to become that city’s youngest mayor since 1933. Kilpatrick beat City Council President Gil Hill.
In Houston, incumbent Lee Brown got 43 percent of the vote to squeak by challenger Orlando Sanchez, who took 41 percent. Brown, a Democrat and Sanchez, a Republican, will face each other in a runoff. Both are vying for the city’s Hispanic vote, which is expected to be key.
State Senator Randy Kelly narrowly defeated City Council Member Jay Benanav in the race to succeed St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman. Kelly pulled 29,819 votes to Benanav’s 29,416.
Next door in Minneapolis, Sharon Sayles Belton lost her bid for a third term to political newcomer R.T. Rybak. Rybak, an Internet consultant, airport noise activist and environmentalist, took 65 percent of the vote in a campaign that focused on fiscal discipline and social change. In a related race, Sayles Belton supporter Jackie Cherryhomes lost her race for City Council president to Natalie Johnson Lee, one of two Green Party members to win council seats. The two lead a contingent of seven new faces on the Minneapolis city council. Like the mayor, none of the new city council members has ever held public office.
In Connecticut, Democrat Owen Quinn beat Republican Tom Jerram by 135 votes to take the Torrington mayoral race, and Democrat Michael Jarjura took 40 percent of the vote to win Waterbury’s winner-take-all mayoral election.
In nearby Massachusetts, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino overwhelmed Peggy Davis-Mullen with a record-setting 76 percent of the vote. In Pittsburgh, incumbent Tom Murphy did nearly as well, picking up 74 percent of the vote on his way to his third term as mayor. His opponent, Republican James Carmine, spent just $3,000 on the campaign.