Charlotte's Mayoral Future

[voyager12]

I read in the O this week that McCrory hosted a secret fundraiser recently. When asked by the press he refused to answer about it's purpose, fueling speculation that he may aiming for higher office next election. I have heard that he is interested in running for Congress. Malcom Graham hosted a community forum this weekend focusing on African-American inequities in Charlotte and is rumored to be the Democratic frontrunner for Charlotte Mayor. Do you think he has a chance? If McCrory runs for reelection I still see him easily winning, he is very entrenched and has the Uptown establishment both Republicans and Democrats squarely in his corner. Graham would most likely run a very grassroots populist campaign portraying McCrory as only concerned about Uptown and out of touch with the needs of average Charlotteans, which I think is relatively accurate. A competitive race would be nice instead of the pasting Madans gets everytime he runs. I also think its about time our Mayor was full time. I know we are not huge but we are hardly a small city and I was shocked when I found out that the office is part time.

[dubone]

Great, yet another democrat mayoral candidate that is take a page from the conservative playbook to make uptown development a boogyman. I liked Graham when he was on the city council, as he seemed to be supportive of most progress, including uptown development. It would be ashame if politics took the african-american vote away from support for such development, as I believe urbanization and building public amenities uptown has generally been a good thing for inner city african-americans, including the city as a whole.

We'll see what his platform is eventually, but it would be pretty sad if we got an anti-uptown democratic candidate against an anti-uptown republican candidate.

[monsoon]

It's my prediction that McCroy is eyeballing Elizabeth Dole's seat in 2008. There are strong rumors she isn't going to run again. I guess the same could be said for Sue Myrick's seat but I don't think McCroy could make it through the GOP primary.

As far as Malcom Graham is concerned, he could be elected mayor of CLT. He would not be the first Black democrat to hold the position.

[atlrvr]

I haven't seen a single candidate, Republican or Democrat, in the last 3 mayoral elections, that would be as pro-development as McCrory.

[A2]

I haven't seen a single candidate, Republican or Democrat, in the last 3 mayoral elections, that would be as pro-development as McCrory.

[voyager12]

Graham's "fight the man" approach may be old news and some what cliched but there is strong sentiment in the community that McCrory's focus is on affluent Uptown and South Charlotte and the other sectors of town are ignored. Charlotte may have the weak Mayor form of government but figureheard or not the officeholder sets the tone. My dissaproval of his stance on social issues aside, I view McCrory as a visionless tool of the business community and completely disengaged from the life of city residents outside of Uptown circles. Graham has the relationships with a broad range of constituncies and I think it would be refreshing to have an engaged and more open minded Mayor.

[dubone]

The Mayorship in this city is little more than a figurehead with veto and tie-breaking power for city council votes.

Granted, figurehead status does go a long way in creating the focus of discourse and so on, and in lobbying for votes. But it isn't too big of a deal if he focused on South Charlotte (where he lives) and Uptown (where he works), because all areas of the city council are served by council members with a vote.

My problem with anti-uptown politics is that city centers never work well unless they are the focal point for the whole city. It is the common good to have a strong downtown, in my view, because it is the heart of the city. Having a discourse opposing all things downtown is not very healthy.

[uptownliving]

Overall I think that Pat McCrory has done a good job as Mayor. I have voted for him everytime he has run. If he choses not to run in 2007 then here is a list of who I think would make a good Mayor:

-Pat Mumford. He is a moderate Republican like McCrory, but more liberal on social issues. He is also a very thoughtful person who I think would represent Charlotte well.

-Malcom Graham. I don't think he would run on an anti-uptown platform as his voting record was very pro-uptown. If he did that then his oppenent could portray Graham as a hypocrite. He is a very nice and intelligent person that is moderate enough to get elected in this town. There is the old saying that you "dress for the job you want, not the one you have" and well Graham has always worn snazzy suits in public so he obvioulsy would like a high profile job such as the Mayorship...or even higher (Mel Watt's Congressional district?)

Ruth Samuelson- She used to be on the County Commision and she is another one of those moderate Republicans in the Charlotte mold. She is a little too conservative for my tastes but I always felt that she researched all the issues well, and even though I would disagree with some of her votes, she voiced her opinion in such a way that I could respect her.

[voyager12]

I stated in my original post that I recognize the governmental weakness of the Mayor's position in Charlotte. The title is Mayor of "Charlotte", though and not Mayor of Uptown or South Charlotte. In every other city I have lived in the Mayors took pains to go out among the various community groups and have dialogues even if there was disagreement. Mayors should represent their entire city and not just groups they feel comfortable with or 100% agree with. I have never heard of McCrory hitting the pavement in East or West Charlotte and really listening to concerns from diverse groups. I would like to think that he recognizes this as a weakness and is working to change but I honestly think he could care less because the issues in West and East, and North Charlotte don't make good media pictures and soundbites. He is content to help build shiny Uptown on a hill and be blissfully ignorant of serious problems that need to be addressed. Malcolm Graham or other engaged community leaders would not be afraid to tackle them.

[monsoon]

^That was well said about McCroy. Charlotte is Myer's Park, Dilworth, and downtown.

[nowensone]

Can he do more for CLT at the senate level? Especially given that he has little real power as Mayor?

I haven't seen a single candidate, Republican or Democrat, in the last 3 mayoral elections, that would be as pro-development as McCrory.

[uptownliving]

In every other city I have lived in the Mayors took pains to go out among the various community groups and have dialogues even if there was disagreement. Mayors should represent their entire city and not just groups they feel comfortable with or 100% agree with. I have never heard of McCrory hitting the pavement in East or West Charlotte and really listening to concerns from diverse groups. I would like to think that he recognizes this as a weakness and is working to change but I honestly think he could care less because the issues in West and East, and North Charlotte don't make good media pictures and soundbites.

[monsoon]

...... The other effort was to bring the Catawba River to the forefront by organizing a boat tour of the Catawba for all politicians in the area, not just Charlotte. This tour was led by the Catawba River Keeper. The focus of the tour was to make the case of preserving the Catawba as a natural resource since its where we get our water from.

[elvigy]

There are really only three options for Pat McCrory to advance. House of Representatives, Senator or Governor for the state. I'm ruling out the state houses, since I don't think he's at all interested in that. I believe he has grander ambitions.

The Congressional district he lives in is represented by Sue Myrick. She just won re-election and is not going to term limit herself (as she herself has stated) so it's likely that she will run again. This means McCrory would run in the Republican primary against her and would probably lose. It could be close though, but Myrick has all the benefits of incumbency, while McCrory is probably not thought too highly of outside the Charlotte part of that district. The district includes a lot of Gaston and Union counties and what record McCrory has is pretty much seen as Charlotte boosterism (which granted is his current job). All in all, I doubt that he'd take Myrick on.

The governorship was just re-won by Easley, so the race is a bit far down the road to be gearing up for already.

The Senate seat held by Dole, though, is a very real possibility. She has not been a successful fundraiser for the Republicans and they took a pasting in the Senate during her tenure as chair of the NRSC. She's expected to be replaced soon in that position. I haven't heard specific rumors of her not running at all, but she is generally considered to be a good target for the Democrats in 2008, when she runs again (if she does). So...I could see McCrory gearing up for a primary run at her. Now is the time for him to start setting the wheels in motion for that.

In all of this, you have to also consider the "Charlotte Curse" for any mayor of Charlotte running for a statwide office. My bet would be that whatever office he runs for on a statewide level, assuming he wins his primary, is that he would lose the general election to the Democrat. He's not really got a strong record to run on, considering the weakness of the mayor position in Charlotte. And top that off with the antipathy of most NC rural voters to anything to do with Charlotte, I just don't see him getting anywhere. But I could be wrong of course.

[monsoon]

That was a pretty good analysis. A significant portion of Myrick's district includes Northern Mecklenburg where he isn't well thought of. Any reasonable republican opponent will knock him off easily. Myrick has held this seat practically unopposed since 1994 since it was gerrymandered to make a republican win almost certain.

Lizzy is rumored to be considering giving up this seat as she is 71 years old this year which will make her 78-79 at the end of the next term and as you pointed out, she has not been much of a success for the Republicans. She became chair of the senate re-election committee for the GOP in 2004 and under her leadership the GOP lost 6 seats. My guess is the GOP is going to ask her to step down and she is going to agree. This is no doubt what McCrory is licking his chops about.

McCrory is owed a lot of favors mainly due to his support for GW Bush's re-election. I am not sure however if that won't come back to haunt him given what has happened in the last election.

[elvigy]

My guess is the GOP is going to ask her to step down and she is going to agree. This is no doubt what McCrory is licking his chops about.

McCrory is owed a lot of favors mainly due to his support for GW Bush's re-election. I am not sure however if that won't come back to haunt him given what has happened in the last election.

[uptownliving]

It would be interesting to hear more about that since most of the Catawba River in this area is not navigable except by small boats. It's barely 4-6 ft in many places outside of the lakes and below Lake Wylie, its all rocks.

[monsoon]

Read all about it here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stori...ewscolumn2.html

[atlrvr]

While I agree that the Dole seat may be the easiest win, if he has the highest aspirations (as in the Prez.) then governorship woud be the more directand sucessful route. Senator to president hasn't worked since Nixon (and he had to do a stint as VP) The last Senator to go directly to the White House was Kennedy.

As far as Charlotte's future mayor, I suspect we will see a moderate Republican win. I'm thinking Mumford or Lassiter would be two popular choices with voters.

[uptownliving]

If McCrory runs for Governor then I think he would have no chance against NC Treasurer Richard Moore who will most likely be the 2008 Democratic nominee.

Moore already has high visibility State wide with his NC Cash campaign.

McCrory has 2 things going against him in a state wide race:

1) He is from the Great State of Mecklenburg.

2) He has no name recognition outside of the Charlotte area.

[monsoon]

Of course as one of his republican predecessors discovered going for governor is a quick way to end a political career. McCrory would do well to look at the lesson of Vinroot who was more electable in my book. McCrory has never had to win a difficult election given the cadavers the democrats have put up against him here in Charlotte. It will be interesting to see if he has the kahonas to make it on a statewide basis. Easley will be a tough bird to knock off.

[uptownliving]

Easley can't run for Governor in 2008. He will have hit the term limits for being Governor. He can run again in 2012 though.

[monsoon]

Ahh I did not realize he would be out. Then it will be interesting to see which way McCrory will go.

[Charlotte_native]

Hasn't Eastern North Carolina typically not voted for Charlotte reps either as governor and/or Senate seats? I've always heard that, but other than Vinroot haven't paid much attention in earlier years. I do recall hearing that is why Vinroot didn't win, the many in more rural North Carolina don't like the "city boys".

[redjeep77]

Hasn't Eastern North Carolina typically not voted for Charlotte reps either as governor and/or Senate seats? I've always heard that, but other than Vinroot haven't paid much attention in earlier years. I do recall hearing that is why Vinroot didn't win, the many in more rural North Carolina don't like the "city boys".