The 2009 mayoral and city council elections, featuring our Online Town Hall video series originally live streamed at cltblog.com/live.
John Lassiter’s concession speech. photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr
Hope turned to heartbreak on election night at Republican John Lassiter’s mayoral campaign party.
Photos and essay after the jump:
Supporters of mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx and media crews gathered in a ballroom of the Westin Hotel last week to watch election returns, renew connections and nosh on crab-lump hors d’oeuvres.
The candidate and family members kept out of sight early, and campaign and media watchers huddled around laptops periodically to watch as precincts reported results. About 9:30 p.m., as the candidate’s lead reached about 3,000 votes, the excited buzz in the room grew louder. About 10 p.m., Foxx’s family and supporters entered the room and made their way to a stage, and Foxx arrived shortly afterward.
One key moment: Former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, the city’s first African American mayor, pointed out Foxx’s election meant Charlotte had its first Democratic mayor in 22 years.
But perhaps the most touching moment: During Foxx’s speech, he acknowledged the presence and influence of his grandmother, who played a key role in launching him on his path.
Left: Anthony Foxx (D), right: John Lassiter (R). photos: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr
Regardless who wins Tuesday’s election, Charlotte will have a new mayor. That’s because Pat McCrory, Charlotte’s mayor of 14 years, is not seeking reelection. Voters will also decide races for Charlotte City Council, city leadership in other Mecklenburg towns, and the CMS School Board.
What you need to know to vote after the jump.
voter turnout; dark red = 0-10%, bright red = 10-20%, white = not participating
Of 466,351 registered voters, 20,202 ballots were cast, equalling a 4.33% voter turnout. All precincts are completely reported.
John Lassiter, as expected, won the primary for Republican Mayoral candidate with a 79.54% margin. Martin Davis (Dirty Book guy), however, pulled an impressive 18.97%, or in more concrete terms, 2,031 votes (out of 10,706 total). Jack Stratton received only 1.49%.
Complete mayoral and city council results can be found at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website.
video: Mecklenburg County; view this video on Vimeo
This election of a new Charlotte mayor this November is expected to be a contest between established and experienced leaders John Lassiter and Anthony Foxx, both of whom currently serve on the Charlotte City Council. First comes the primary on Tuesday, Sept. 15th. While Democrat Foxx has no opponents, Republican Lassiter has two challengers; Jack Stratton and Martin Davis.
Stratton, who doesn’t even live in Charlotte, features a rambling, incoherent website dedicated to an unintelligible conspiracy theory. The other fringe candidate, Martin Davis, has been dubbed “dirty book guy” by the Charlotte Observer and Creative Loafing.
Martin Davis first rose to notoriety at the October 7th, 1997 Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners meeting. Davis used a public comment period to read sexually explicit excerpts from “The Faber Book of Gay Fiction” which he had stumbled across at the public library. The meeting was broadcast live on television.
At first, the Commissioners allowed Davis to proceed. After several more sessions of reading aloud graphic and often homoerotic books, Chairman Parks Helms had enough. At the March 6th, 2001 County Commissioners meeting, Helms forbid Martin Davis from reading any adult material aloud. When Davis ignored the Chairman and attempted to read a special passage from “Woman on Top,” Helms had him forcefully removed from the building, or as Davis puts it “had a police officer attack me.” It was far from Davis’ only run-in with law enforcement, and it wouldn’t be his last performance at a County Commissioners meeting, either.
The episode lead to “dirty book guy” Davis landing on Creative Loafing’s list of “Ten Scariest People in Charlotte.”
The primary election is Tuesday, September 15th. Republicans and Democrats can vote in their respective parties’ primaries, and those registered as “unaffiliated” can choose which primary in which they want to vote. For more information on the primary, visit Andrea Krewson’s blog.
While it remains to be seen how Martin Davis will finish in the Tuesday primary, his antics at County Commissioners meetings are only good enough to land him in third place, trailing “rogue helicopter guy” and reigning champ, Chilly Willy. Chilly Willy for mayor, anyone?
2 Comments
28 Jul 09 at 8:10 pm
Posted in City, Development, Economy, Environment, Government, Infrastructure, Politics, State, Transportation, UNC Charlotte, Uptown
ZIP: CLTvote
video credit: Nathan Richie, Dave Potts, Justin Ruckman; watch this video on Viddler
Earlier this week, a poll conducted in Charlotte surveying 401 registered voters via telephone found that John Lassiter is leading Anthony Foxx 42 to 26 percent, with 32 percent undecided, in the upcoming mayoral race. Jim Morrill from the Observer has doubts about the accuracy of the poll, but one way or the other, it’s looking to be a close race.
Tonight, the two candidates participated in a forum at the Gateway YMCA hosted by the Third Ward Neighborhood Association.
The second CLT Blog Online Town Hall, this time with John Lassiter, was again a great success, with nearly identical viewership hanging out for our live broadcast earlier this month. Above is the complete hour-long recording, minus the first several minutes which we lost in the archives, with the questions asked of Lassiter tagged in the timeline.
Special thanks, once again, to Dave Potts (@dave_potts on Twitter) for manning the camera, and Nathan Richie (@nathanrichie) for so graciously moderating. And thanks to everyone who submitted questions before and during the broadcast.
We’re just getting started. Stay tuned!
Below is a complete list of the questions we asked Lassiter for quick reference.
date: Sun, Jun 21
time: 8pm
where: cltblog.com/live
We’ll be streaming live with Republican Mayoral candidate John Lassiter (@lassiterjohn) this coming Sunday, June 21st, at 8pm. The broadcast will take place over on CLT Blog Live.
What questions should we ask him? You can submit and vote on questions here. If you’d like to see the questions submitted for the last online town hall w/ Anthony Foxx, you can see them here. We’ll ask whatever the highest ranked (and appropriate) questions are as decided by the end of the week.
And like our last online town hall, we’ll open the very end of the stream up for impromptu questions from the Twitter community and chat room. So if any questions are raised during the discussion, or if yours never gets asked, there will be an opportunity to find answers.
Nathan Richie (@nathanrichie) will be moderating again. This is our second event in this format. Please join us online this Sunday!
2 Comments
28 May 09 at 7:34 pm
Posted in City, Events, Government, Interview, Politics
ZIP: CLTvote
The first CLT Blog Online Town Hall was a great success, with nearly 200 unique viewers showing up for our live broadcast two Sundays ago. Above is the complete hour-long recording, with the questions we asked Foxx tagged in the timeline.
Special thanks to Dave Potts (@dave_potts on Twitter) for manning the camera, and Nathan Richie (@nathanrichie) for so graciously moderating. And thanks to everyone who submitted questions before and during the broadcast.
We look forward to doing more of these soon. Stay tuned!
Below is a complete list of the questions we asked Foxx for quick reference.
date: Sun, May 17
time: 7pm
where: cltblog.com/live
We’ll streaming live with Democratic Mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx this coming Sunday, May 17th, at 7pm. The broadcast will take place over on CLT Blog Live.
What questions should we ask him? You can submit and vote on questions here. We’ll ask whatever the highest ranked (and appropriate) questions are as decided by the end of the week.
In addition, we’ll open the very end of the stream up for impromptu questions from the Twitter community. So if any questions are raised during the discussion, or if yours never gets asked, there will be an opportunity to find answers.
This is the first such event in this format for us, of which we hope to do many more in the future. Please join us online this Sunday!
