Overview
A number of other cities outside of the metropolitan limelight held mayoral elections in 2005, among them several major cities in upstate New York, Pennsylvania, New England, and southern California.
Buffalo
Year Founded 1799
Area 41 square miles
Population 285,000 (2003 estimate)
Mayor Anthony Masiello, a three-term Democratic incumbent who was accused of chronic corruption and patronage, announced in May 2005 that he would not run for re-election. The race to succeed Masiello was a match-up between Byron Brown, a state senator since 2001 and a former Buffalo City council member, and Kevin Helfer, another former city council member. Brown became the city's first African-American mayor.
Syracuse
Year Founded 1786
Area 25 square miles
Population 144,000 (2003 estimate)
In March 2005, Joanie Mahoney, a former city council member, announced that she would challenge incumbent Mayor Matt Driscoll. Driscoll (a former city council member and tavern owner), in office since 2001, was criticized for inaction on several major economic development projects for the economically depressed city, including redevelopment of the Mizpah Tower, a long-vacant landmark Syracuse building that was finally sold to a developer in September 2005 to be turned into a Ramada hotel, and Destiny USA, a mall that was supposed to have been completed in 2004 but on which construction still has not begun. Driscoll defended his record, saying that he had introduced new efficiencies to city government and had attracted new business to the city. Driscoll narrowly won re-election.
Billings
Year Founded 1882
Area 33 square miles
Population 95,200 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Mayor Chuck Tooley was barred from running for re-election by term limits. The race came down to a contest between former Billings police chief Ron Tussing and Al Garver, a political consultant. Tussing drew controversy when he agreed to step down as police chief and take a $160,000 settlement to end a long-running dispute with the city administrator, with one of the conditions of the settlement being that he could not return to work for the city.
New Haven
Year Founded 1637
Area 19 square miles
Population 124,500 (2003 estimate)
John DeStefano, who first came to office in 1993 in a race to succeed John Daniels, the city's first African-American mayor, crushed a pair of unknown competitors in the 2005 election, including Eric Brown, a Green Party candidate and a supermarket customer service manager, and Gary Jenkins, a preacher and former Nixon White House security officer.
Charlotte (North Carolina)
Year Founded 1748
Area 175 square miles
Population 584,700 (2003 estimate)
In Charlotte, incumbent Republican mayor Patrick McCrory won a record sixth term, defeating Democratic challenger Craig Madans, who was making his third bid for the mayor's office.
Rochester
Year Founded 1811
Area 36 square miles
Population 215,100 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent William Johnson announced that he was retiring after three terms as mayor of Rochester, and his police chief, Robert Duffy, announced that he was running for Johnson's office in March 2005. Duffy, a Democrat, was challenged by defense attorney John Parrinello, a Republican. Duffy beat Parrinello without difficulty.
Riverside (California)
Year Founded 1870
Area 78 square miles
Population 281,500 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Ron Loveridge, seeking his fourth term in office, was challenged by Ameal Moore, a member of the city council since 1994.
San Bernardino
Year Founded 1851
Area 55 square miles
Population 195,400 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Judith Valles (in office since 1998), the first Latina mayor of any US city with a population of over 100,000, announced in June 2005 that she would not run for re-election. Pat Morris, a superior court judge, won the most votes in a race involving four other candidates, but failed to avoid a runoff on 7 February 2006 against City Attorney Jim Penman.
Santa Barbara
Year Founded 1782
Area 21 square miles
Population 88,300 (2003 estimate)
The incumbent mayor, Marty Blum, fended off a challenge from University of California-Santa Barbara economics professor Lanny Ebenstein.
Cedar Rapids
Year Founded 1838
Area 54 square miles
Population 122,500 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Paul Pate did not run for re-election. Kay Halloran, a Democratic former State Assemblywoman (1983-1992), won a narrow victory against Scott Olson, a real estate broker.
Toledo
Year Founded 1817
Area 81 square miles
Population 309,000 (2003 estimate)
Jack Ford, Toledo's first African-American mayor, in office since 2002, lost by a significant margin to his challenger, Carty Finkbeiner, who served as mayor of Toledo from 1993-2001. Ford, a former city council member and state representative who served as minority floor leader, introduced some innovations into city governance, including spearheading a ban on smoking in public places, but was widely seen as ineffectual in the face of the city's mounting economic problems.
Tacoma
Year Founded 1852
Area 50 square miles
Population 196,800 (2003 estimate)
Bill Baarsma (D), in office since 2001, easily defeated his opponent, longtime City Hall gadfly Will Baker (R).
Springfield (Massachusetts)
Year Founded 1636
Area 32 square miles
Population 152,500 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Charles Ryan, who served three terms as this city's mayor in the 1960s and returned to office in 2003, easily defeated Tom Ashe, the vice chair of the city's school committee.
Lawrence (Massachusetts)
Year Founded 1845
Area 7 square miles
Population 72,500 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Michael Sullivan, in office since 2001, easily defeated Marcos Devers, a math teacher and community organizer vying to become the first Hispanic mayor in Lawrence, which has a 60% Hispanic population.
New Bedford (Massachusetts)
Year Founded 1787
Area 20 square miles
Population 94,100 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Frederick Kalisz, in office since 1998, was soundly defeated in his bid for re-election by attorney Scott Lang, a former campaign manager for Senator Ted Kennedy who ran on a platform largely based on criticism of a sharp rise in violent crimes during Kalisz's administration. Lang got the backing of the city's police union, which mounted a series of protests against Kalisz.
Annapolis
Year Founded 1649
Area 6 square miles
Population 36,200 (2003 estimate)
Democratic incumbent Ellen Moyer, Annapolis's first female mayor, won re-election to ran against a field of competitors including independent candidate Gilbert Renaut and Republican alderman George Kelley. The other candidates questioned Moyer's record in managing the city's growth and economy, and also raised concerns about her governing style, which they characterized as confrontational. Kelley, who was running to become the city's first elected black mayor, finished a distant third behind Moyer and Renaut.
St. Petersburg
Year Founded 1888
Area 60 square miles
Population 247,600 (2003 estimate)
Democratic incumbent Rick Baker, in office since 2001, easily defeated Republican challenger Ed Helm.
Manchester (New Hampshire)
Year Founded 1738
Area 33 square miles
Population 108,900 (2003 estimate)
Democrat Robert Baines, the incumbent mayor since 1999, was defeated by Frank Guinta, a Republican alderman. Guinta's victory was considered a political upset.
Allentown
Year Founded 1762
Area 18 square miles
Population 106,000 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Roy Afflerbach did not run for re-election. Afflerbach's former economic development department head, Ed Pawlowski, ran against William Heydt, who was the city's mayor from 1992 through 2001. Despite Pawlowski's connection with Afflerbach's unpopular administration, he defeated Heydt by a comfortable margin.
Erie (Pennsylvania)
Year Founded 1753
Area 22 square miles
Population 101,400 (2003 estimate)
Republican incumbent Rick Filippi, who was indicted in 2005 on charges that he tried to use his position to make real estate deals near a proposed horse-racing track and casino site, did not run for re-election. Democratic city councilman Joe Sinnott defeated Republican Jack Anderson, a small business owner and former police officer who was selected by the local GOP to replace Filippi, in the race for the mayor's office.
Scranton
Year Founded 1848
Area 26 square miles
Population 74,300 (2003 estimate)
Democratic incumbent Chris Doherty beat write-in candidate Gary DiBileo, who was a Democrat but ran as a Republican, mounted a surprisingly strong challenge, in what was the most expensive mayoral race in the city's history.
Provo
Year Founded 1849
Area 39 square miles
Population 105,400 (2003 estimate)
Incumbent Lewis Billings won a third term in a rematch of the 2001 race against retired firefighter Dave Bailey in what was the most expensive race in city history.
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