Cleveland’s mayor, big primary winner, looking to win second four-year term

Cleveland mayor looking to win second term

CLEVELAND — Mayor Frank Jackson’s campaign for election to a second four-year term has focused on maintaining city services and avoiding tax increases amid a recession that hurt the city’s manufacturing-dependent economy.

He held a big fundraising edge and carried the September nonpartisan primary with 71 percent of the vote to advance to Tuesday’s election against Bill Patmon, a fellow Democrat who got 11 percent in the primary.

Jackson, 63, has the name recognition and high-profile standing of an incumbent and the financial backing of the downtown business community and has used them to his advantage.

One example from last week: the low-key Jackson sat and smiled while Vice President Joe Biden thanked him for his leadership and outlined a $16 million federal grant to the city-owned airport, an important employment center for the region.

Sitting alongside Jackson were U.S. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and a construction worker recalled from layoff with money from Washington. The visual message: Jackson could tap into political connections to help the city’s shaky economy.

Jackson, an attorney and former assistant city prosecutor, was a low-profile councilman who had represented an inner-city neighborhood for 16 years when he challenged and beat incumbent Mayor Jane Campbell in 2005.

Patmon served on the City Council for 12 years and ran for mayor in 2005 and for Congress last year. He campaigned this election year on a theme that the city needs stronger leadership to confront its challenges and improved crime-fighting.

Cleveland has been facing declining population and rising unemployment and poverty in recent years.

The city’s population has dropped 3.5 percent from 2005 to an estimated 443,748, the jobless rate has climbed from 7.7 percent to 10.3 percent since Jackson took office, and the poverty rate has edged up to more than 29 percent since 2000.