In Tuesday’s Off-Year Elections, Who Won the Big Mayoral Races?
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In Hoboken, N.J., it was Ravi Bhalla, an Indian-American Sikh who dons a turban and who was attacked with campaign mailers that suggested he was a terrorist.
"Thank you for having faith in me, for having faith in our community, faith in our state, and faith in our country,” Hoboken City Councilman Ravi Bhalla told supporters gathered at Moran’s Pub on Election Night after it became clear he had come out on top in the six-person race to replace outgoing Mayor Mayor Dawn Zimmer.
“This is what America is all about," Bhalla continued, according to the Jersey Journal. "We've been through a bruising campaign... but now is the time we come together and see who we can work with to bring this city forward."
In the final days of the campaign, the heated race in the largely Democratic city of 50,000 took an ugly turn. "Don't let TERRORISM take over our town!" read anti-Bhalla campaign fliers. The message appeared above a picture of Bhalla in his turban.
The fliers were sent out anonymously but they reportedly appeared to be a “modified version” of a mailer sent out by the campaign of fellow council member Michael DeFusco who, had he won, would have been the city’s first openly gay mayor.
DeFusco condemned the fliers and said his campaign had nothing to do with them.
In Seattle, voters elected former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, who will be the city’s first female mayor since 1926. Durkan won the support of the booming city’s business community to defeat urban planner Cary Moon.
Durkan is set to become a high-profile urban leader in a Democratic stronghold that will stretch from Canada to Mexico along the length of the country’s West Coast.
That’s because Democratic state Senate candidate Manka Dhingra won Washington’s 45th District seat, a victory that will flip the majority in the state’s upper chamber from Republican to Democratic, which means Washington’s legislative and executive branches will be controlled by Democrats, same as in Oregon and California.
Durkan replaces former Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who resigned in September amid accusations of sexual abuse. She will take office at the end of the month when election results are certified.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio easily won a second term. He is the first Democratic head of the city to win reelection since Ed Koch won in the 1985. Viewed alongside Democratic victories around the country, de Blasio’s win Tuesday was big, even if it was well expected. New York has been a Republican-run city for a long time. It was in Koch’s New York that Harvey Weinstein first made a name for himself with the breakout movie “Sex, Lies and Videotape“ and Donald Trump transitioned from local real estate developer to national celebrity.
In Flint, Michigan, Mayor Karen Weaver survived a recall election in a landslide victory, prevailing in a race that hosted 17 opponents. Her term extends for another two years. Weaver became Flint’s first female mayor in 2015. She was one of the leaders of the movement demanding federal authorities investigate the city’s lead-tainted water crisis. She came under attack when critics said she stood to profit from a city debris-collection contract. Arthur Woodson led the recall effort to recall her and eventually joined the race to replace her. Woodson pulled down 2.5 percent of the votes.
In Detroit, Democratic incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan won handily in the city’s first post-bankruptcy matchup, according to the Detroit Free Press put it. Duggan defeated state Sen. Coleman A. Young II. Election day in the Motor City was sunny. Lucky it didn’t rain. Last year’s presidential election saw 48 percent turnout. This year’s voter turnout was anemic by comparison. “We’re expecting about 17 percent,” said Ken Whittaker, civic engagement coordinator at the nonprofit Michigan United.
Voters in Charlotte, North Carolina, chose the city’s sixth mayor in eight years. Democrat Vi Lyles easily defeated Republican Kenny Smith to become the city’s first black female mayor.
The Charlotte Observer reported that Lyles carried precincts throughout the city and won “despite being heavily outspent.”
Democratic incumbent Mayor Jennifer Roberts lost in the primary.
In Boston, Mayor Marty Walsh won a second term, defeating City Council member Tito Jackson.
The Associated Press reported that Boston has had only four mayors in the last 50 years and that no incumbent has lost re-election since James Michael Curley in 1949.
In Manchester, New Hampshire, Democrat Joyce Craig ousted Republican incumbent Mayor Ted Gastas. The Union Leader reported that the race drew “the largest turnout so far this decade.”
John Tomasic is a journalist based in Seattle.
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