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Mayor's Races
Atlanta: Incumbent Mayor Bill Campbell beat longtime rival Marvin Arrington in a Nov. 25 runoff election, capturing about 53 percent of the vote. The election was marred by mudslinging and race-baiting.
| Special Election Coverage from CNN Affiliate WGNX |
Boston: With crime down and the economy rebounding, Thomas Menino, the first incumbent in recorded history to have no opponent at all, faced only write-in opposition and has won easily.
Cleveland: Incumbent Michael White defeated city council member Helen K. Smith. A dearth of substantial issues made for a lackluster campaign. Property values rose 43 percent in Cleveland, quite a turnaround from the financial problems that bedeviled the city in the late 1970s.
Detroit: Incumbent Dennis Archer easily beat state Rep. Ed Vaughn. Vaughn's accusations that Archer chose glitz over grit and neglected the city's poorest neighborhoods did not hurt the mayor in Detroit's voting booths.
Houston: Eight candidates ran and the election has narrowed it to two. Lee Brown and Rob Mosbacher will advance to a run-off. Though Brown led, he failed to gain a clear majority. Front-runner Lee Brown appears to be the heir apparent to incumbent mayor Bob Lanier, who cannot run again due to term limits. If Brown, who also headed up the police departments in Atlanta, New York and Houston, wins he will be the first African-American mayor of Houston, the nation's fourth largest city. The run-off will probably be in early December.
| Special Election Coverage from CNN Affiliates KHOU and KPRC |
Miami: In a Nov. 13 runoff, ex-Mayor Xavier Suarez defeated incumbent Joe Carollo by a 53-47 percent margin. But alleged absentee-ballot vote fraud has thrown a question mark over the election, and state officials are investigating.
| Special Election Coverage from CNN Affiliate WPLG |
- CQ: Miami Voters Crush Proposal To Abolish City (9/05/97)
- Miami Voters Decide City's Fate (9/04/97)
Minneapolis: Incumbent Democrat Sharon Sayles Belton has defeated Barbara Carlson, ex-wife of governor Arne Carlson. Carlson dogged Belton for being soft on crime and failing to improve education in the city.
| Special Election Coverage from CNN Affiliate KMSP |
Giuliani Wins With Ease
New York: Incumbent Mayor Rudy Giuliani has defeated liberal Democrat and Manhattan borough president Ruth Messinger. In a city where Democrats outnumber Republican 5-to-1, Giuliani is the first Republican mayor of the city to win re-election since 1941.
| Special Election Coverage from CNN Affiliate NY1 |
- Brutality Case Stirs N.Y. Mayor's Race (8/26/97)
- Giuliani's Wife: No Pipeline To City Hall (8/6/97)
- Questions About Giuliani's Relationship With Aide (8/4/97)
- Rent Control Controversy Could Affect Giuliani's Re-Election Bid (5/13/97)
- Giuliani Gears Up For Mayoral Race (12/12/96)
- The New York Times Web site -- The 1997 New York Mayoral Race
Pittsburgh: Incumbent Democrat Tom Murphy is the winner over Republican Harry Frost. Though the prospect of the Republican Frost unseating incumbent Murphy was never bright, things seem to only get worse for Frost and the GOP. Frost spoke of his financial problems, which includes the repossession of his condo and other questions about failed tax payments, while purporting to have a plan to deal with Pittsburgh's looming deficit. The last Republican mayor of Pittsburgh retired in 1936 and it does not appear that things will change this year. Murphy's sharpest jab at Frost was when he asked how he could be mayor when he no longer had a home and wasn't living in the city.
Seattle: Port commissioner Paul Schell defeated councilman Charlie Chong.
| Special Election Coverage from CNN Affiliates KIRO and KSTW |
St. Paul Incumbent Norm Coleman defeated Democratic state Sen. Sandy Pappas. Coleman, a convert to the Republican Party, covered the city with billboards proclaiming "Optimism is contagious."
| Special Election Coverage from CNN Affiliate KMSP |
- Minnesota Mayor Switches To GOP (12/19/97)