'Racial barrier is breaking down'

Jay Williams won five of Youngstown's seven wards.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jay Williams broke down some racial barriers with his mayoral victory, election results suggest.
Williams, who is black, won five of the city's seven wards in Tuesday's election, according to results released Wednesday by the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
Williams easily won the 1st and 2nd Wards with 70.7 percent and 73.9 percent of the vote, respectively. The two wards are predominantly black.
Democrat Robert F. Hagan, a white candidate who finished second in the six-person mayoral race, received 24.2 percent of the 1st Ward's vote and 21.8 percent of the 2nd Ward's vote.
Williams also handily won the 3rd Ward, a mixed ward but that has a large black population, with 68.6 percent of the vote compared with 26.8 percent for Hagan.
Hagan, a state senator, lives in the 3rd Ward, and lost his home precinct, 3J, to Williams 211-136.
Hagan won the 4th and 7th Wards, which are predominantly white.
Hagan captured 60 percent of the 4th Ward's vote compared with 28.4 percent for Williams.
The 1,989 votes Hagan received from the 4th Ward made up 25 percent of the 7,939 votes he received citywide.
Hagan received 49.8 percent of the 7th Ward's vote compared with 37.3 percent for Williams. It was the second-closest ward race between Hagan and Williams.
Also, the percentages are somewhat deceptive because in raw numbers, Hagan beat Williams in the 7th Ward by 468 votes.
Williams won the 5th Ward, which is a mixed ward that leans white, and is Williams' home ward.
Williams received 51.5 percent of the 5th Ward vote compared with 41.4 percent for Hagan. The difference between the two in raw numbers was 380 votes.
Hagan won the 5th Ward in the Democratic primary. Besides the 4th Ward, it was the only ward Hagan won in the Democratic primary in May.
Like Hagan, Williams lost his home precinct, 5K. Hagan received 151 votes in the precinct compared with 104 for Williams.
Race less relevant
Williams and Hagan were encouraged that the results show that race is playing less of a role in citywide elections.
Williams said the 4th Ward numbers concern him, and realizes race played a factor in the results there.
"We campaigned in the 4th Ward," he said. "We went there. The results from there jump out at you."
But Williams is thrilled his base in Wards 1, 2 and 3 supported him, that he won the 5th Ward and was competitive in the 7th.
"I hope this campaign shows the racial barrier is breaking down," Williams said.
Black voters saw Williams' candidacy as the first time they had a legitimate opportunity to elect a black mayor, said Paul Sracic, a Youngstown State University political science professor.
Social conservative
Also, Williams' support from local pastors and his position as a social conservative -- compared with Hagan, who is a social liberal -- helped him win the race, Sracic said.
"People were more likely to vote with their church than their political party" in this election, he said.
Williams' position opposing abortion except in the case of rape, incest and if continuing a pregnancy would endanger the life of the mother isn't an issue a mayor can influence, Sracic said. But that doesn't matter because that and other social issues are important to many voters regardless of the office, he said.
Williams' position also helped persuade socially conservative whites to support him, Sracic said.
"He shares their moral world view," he said of Williams. "Bob Hagan made a tremendous mistake by talking about these issues, and the stark differences between him and Williams."
skolnick@vindy.com