Cleveland's Campbell concedes defeat

State Sen. Mark Mallory became Cincinnati's first popularly elected black mayor Tuesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cleveland City Council President Frank Jackson was elected mayor Tuesday by soundly beating incumbent Jane Campbell, the city's first female mayor and a former Jackson ally whose tenure was marked by police, fire and teacher layoffs.
With 446 of 450 precincts, or 99 percent, reporting unofficial results, Jackson had 53,056 votes, or 55 percent, to Campbell's 43,835 votes, or 45 percent.
Jackson said he didn't take his election as a personal endorsement.
"Most of all I want to thank the people of Cleveland because to me this was not as much a vote for Frank Jackson as much as it was a vote for the future of the city of Cleveland," he said.
"I accept what you have given me and I won't let you down," Jackson told cheering supporters in his election-night headquarters at a church banquet hall.
Jackson said the city must put aside racial, ethnic and neighborhood divisions and focus on a single goal. "That is to make this city great again," he said.
Campbell conceded about 11:30 p.m. and telephoned Jackson to congratulate him.
"I love the city of Cleveland and I don't love it any less tonight," Campbell said in her concession speech at a union hall.
Jackson and Campbell, both Democrats in this blue-collar Democratic city, finished 1-2 in a nonpartisan primary Oct. 4, when fewer than 17 percent of the voters turned out.
Campbell said she had guided Cleveland, ranked the 12th poorest big city in the U.S., effectively through difficult economic times. Jackson said the city was less safe under her leadership.
Campbell trailed Jackson in post-primary polls.
Campbell's first term was marked by police, fire and teacher layoffs as the city's bootstrap image suffered amid declining manufacturing jobs, which in turn cut city income tax collections.
She said her tough decisions had set the stage for a rebound by improving municipal budget and legal work, planning Lake Erie waterfront parkland and preserving airport jobs.
Jackson represents and has been a lifelong resident of the impoverished Central area east of downtown and said he had helped rejuvenate the neighborhood by backing redevelopment efforts. He said Campbell had alienated old allies and blamed others for problems in the city.
Campbell, 52, was a Cuyahoga County commissioner when she was elected four years ago. Jackson, 59, has been a councilman for 16 years and president for the past four.
Cincinnati
In Cincinnati, State Sen. Mark Mallory became the city's first popularly elected black mayor Tuesday, defeating Councilman David Pepper in a seesaw election.
The two Democrats met in a mayoral runoff as Ohio's third-largest city faces rising violent crime and the aftermath of 2001 race riots. Each got about 31 percent of the vote among seven candidates in a nonpartisan September primary.
Pepper campaigned on a detailed plan to revitalize the city starting with the first day of his administration. But Mallory persuaded voters they needed him to clean up the mess at City Hall.
With all 376 precincts reporting, Mallory had 36,201 votes, or 52 percent, to Pepper's 33,664 votes, or 48 percent, in unofficial returns reported by the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
"This is the beginning of a new era," Mallory told supporters. "We are going to bring energy to this city like we haven't seen in a long time."
Pepper said the city would benefit from their spirited campaign.
"This city has, frankly, needed a real mayor's race for a long time," he said. "We have not had real elections, and the result has been years without moving forward."
Pepper, a white city councilman, and Mallory, a black state senator, contended that race was not an issue.
Both candidates campaigned on their vision for combating rising violent crime and often-rocky dealings among the City Council, mayor and city manager, whom the new mayor will have to recruit and hire to run the city's day-to-day operations.
Mallory, 43, cast himself as a consensus builder, Pepper, 34, as an ideas man.
While Cincinnati's suburban population is booming, the city's mayor remains the region's most prominent municipal leader.
The job has taken on new importance in recent years, as the city has switched from a system in which the top vote-getter in the city council race became mayor, to one in which the mayor was elected separately.
The revision was supposed to make the mayor more powerful, but in the four years since that first election, city hall was bogged down in divergent agendas among the mayor and council members, who still have the authority to override the mayor.
Mayor Charlie Luken, a Democrat, didn't seek re-election.
Pepper, a lawyer and two-term city council member, is the son of a former CEO of the Procter & amp; Gamble Co. Mallory is part of a prominent political family.
Rioting broke out four years ago in Cincinnati after an unarmed black man was shot and killed by a white police officer trying to make an arrest. While racial tensions have calmed, crime and safety concerns and revitalizing downtown are leading issues.
Toledo
In Toledo, former two-term mayor Carty Finkbeiner, known for his temper and embarrassing gaffes, sought on Tuesday to oust the man who replaced him -- Jack Ford, the city's first black mayor.
Finkbeiner led early with 72 percent of the votes. With 76 of 324 precincts, or 23 percent, reporting unofficial results, the former mayor had 11,308 votes to Ford's 4,301.
The two Democrats, who combined have held the top office in the state's fourth-largest city since 1994, traded sharp criticisms during the final weeks of the campaign.
Finkbeiner called Ford's term a failure because he failed to create jobs and finish retail development projects. Ford said the former mayor was a liar and that he signed off on economic deals that cost the city millions.
Finkbeiner, 66, was a tireless cheerleader for the manufacturing city, serving as mayor from 1993-2001. He could not run four years ago because of term limits.
He led a successful campaign to keep Jeep's assembly plant and secured a deal to keep the headquarters of building supplies manufacturer Owens Corning. But just as memorable were the missteps and outbursts.
Finkbeiner pondered whether to ask deaf people to move near the airport and asked residents to boycott a pizza chain because he said it didn't support Toledo. Stores responded by offering "Crazy Carty Bread."
Ford, 58, said Finkbeiner was abusive toward employees, often citing an accusation that Finkbeiner hit an employee with a mug. The city settled that case for $35,000.
Critics said Ford was lethargic and showed little personality while in office. He won over some detractors after he confronted leaders of a mob during a mid-October riot that raised issues of race and gang violence.
Both candidates are former city council members. Ford also served in the Ohio House.
Results in the Dayton mayoral race were unavailable at press time earlier today.