Here's a subject I haven't seen addressed here when I've been on: The 2009 Detroit Mayoral race, which is for the largest city in MIchigan and the single largest reserve of Democratic voters for the state. The nice thing about this is that every major candidate, despite the non-partisan nature of the race, is publicly aligning with the Democratic party. THis is an election in the wake of Kwame Kilpatrick's conviction so the incumbent mayor was not elected and Detroit is a city that desperately needs good leadership. There's a brief rundown of most of the major candidates done by the Detroit Free Press at http://www.freep.com/... .
The Candidates:
Ken Cockrel Jr. - Interm Mayor, ex-City Council President, son of former City Council member Ken Cockrel Sr. Ken Cockrel is, by most accounts, personally honorable and an intelligent guy who is willing to work to make the city succeed. However, he doesn't seem to be acting with a sense of urgency to solve Detroit's fiscal problems which is something that both major city newspapers have called him on. While there are worse candidates than Cockrel, I personally don't feel he's the best choice for the job given the opponents he has in the primary.
David Bing - Successful businessman, Hall of Fame former Basketball player, endorsed by the right leaning Detroit News, among the three candidates endorsed by the Detroit Free Press (with Freeman Hendrix and Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans). ON the plus side, Detroit's problems are mostly budgetary and BIng is one of the people in the race who's actually had experience with making sure an entity stays within expenses. ON the other hand, we have no idea how he would work with the various stakeholders involved in the city considering that his company is owned wholy by him and thus he doesn't have to answer to anyone but the government. Still, one of the best choices overall.
Freeman Hendrix - former Deputy Mayor under Dennis Archer, ex-COO of Strategic Staffing Solutions, Current Governmental Affairs Officer for Eastern Michigan University (your author's alma matter) and 2005 Mayoral runner up. I have to say I have a soft spot for Hendrix, who I will always believe won the 2005 race (which was one of the dirtiest in recent memory among mayoral races) and Hendrix has a decent record during the Archer administration. However, he is very much a product of the Wayne County political machine, including working in the corrupt Ed McNamara administration, so I do have serious questions. Still I believe he's capable of helping Detroit through its struggles and if he made the final 2 I wouldn't be embarrassed about it.
Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans - Evans does have experience with budgeting and, given Detroit's crime rate, does put an admiral focus on reducing crime and working with the county. However, his incredibly ugly battle with Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano over expenses and layoffs for the Sheriffs department makes me wonder about his ability to work with the notoriously difficult Detroit City Council (look up some of the actions of COuncil President Monica Conyers, and the past near brawls between members). Also, I don't know that Evans has ever worked outside of a police department, so I don't know that he has the right range of experience to run a city.
Nicholas Hood III - ex-Detroit City Councilman and '01 Mayoral Candidate. Hood is the pastor of a large Detroit church who made a positive impression on me during his 2001 run in the Mayoral primary (finishing a credible 3rd in a crowded field of 6-7 major candidates breaking 1% or higher). Hood has given reasonable answers on fixing the budget to avoid receivership but his answers regarding bringing jobs to the city sound canned to me. Also, he has the same 2 problems that he had in his 2001 campaign in that 1. He's the opposite of dynamic or inspiring and 2. The political oxygen for his campaign gets sucked up by bigger names (in '01 it boiled down to Kilpatrick vs. Gil "Beverly Hills Cop" Hill right away). I like Hood but 1. I'm always skeptical of clergy going into politics on a large scale level and 2. I don't think he'll get past the primary.
ex-City Councilwoman/frequent candidate Sharon McPhail - Let us count the races: 1993 and 2005 Mayoral runs, 1998 run for Wayne County Executive, and a 2000 run for Wayne County Prosecutor. McPhail has run and lost pretty frequently though in addition to her council stint she has also been an attorney for the city of Detroit, and in the US Attorney's office. McPhail has had frequent odd public behavior and statements (nearly provoking the late Kay Everett into a fight by frequently disrupting council proceedings, claiming Kwame Kilpatrick tried to electrocute her through her office chair and then working for him as an attorney). Based on the fact that she worked for Kilpatrick, the remainder of his political machine may be behind her but, fortunately, I don't see her getting through the primary.
State Representative Coleman Young II - Yes, he's the son of just who you think, the longtime former Mayor of Detroit. Young hasn't finished college, being elected while still an intern to the State Legislature and has not provided any specifics on fixing the budget or bringing jobs to the city. He doesn't have experience and a red flag always goes up for me when a candidate doesn't have any real experience outside of elected office. The Detroit Free Press compares him unfavorably to former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, which is never a good thing. Young will get some votes due to name recognition but I can't see him beating the more established and experienced names on the ballot.
Right now I think the 2 who'll make it out of the primary will be one of Cockrel, Evans, Bing, and Hendrix. But let's feel free to talk about it.