A Charlotte City Council majority like no other?
In the aftermath of last month's Charlotte City Council primaries, Democrats believe they have a reasonable chance at something unprecedented: An 8-3 council majority.
Local political strategists in both parties believe there are three favorites for the four at-large council seats being contested.
Republican incumbent Edwin Peacock and Democrat Susan Burgess, the current mayor pro tem, are being penciled in for two of the seats. Democrat Patrick Cannon, a former council member and mayor pro tem, is also considered a strong contender. Cannon led all candidates in the September primary.
The Democrats' optimism for winning a third at-large seat - and getting eight total on the council - is fueled in part by numbers: Democrats comprise just under half of the city's registered voters, while Republicans are 26 percent of the city electorate; most of the remaining voters are unaffiliated.
Democrats also believe they can take advantage of the strong primary showing of first-time Republican candidate Matthew Ridenhour. A leader in the anti-spending "Tea Party" movement, Ridenhour finished a comfortable second in the Republican field.
Democrats question whether a candidate closely identified with the Tea Party movement can win in a general election, when turnout is higher. The Republicans currently holding citywide office - Peacock, John Lassiter and Mayor Pat McCrory - are considered moderates.
"It's a fight for the 4th seat," said Democratic political consultant Dan McCorkle. "Can the Republicans translate that Tea Party stuff into votes? In the general election, will that appeal to the Myers Park and the Eastover crowd?"
In the Sept. 15 primary, Ridenhour got 18.1 percent of the GOP vote; Republican frontrunner Peacock finished with 21.7 percent.
That was Ridenhour's first election. He had helped organize two local Tea Parties earlier this year, and was able to use a mailing list from those events to reach supporters. But in addition to his conservative positions on government spending, his nonpolitical resume appealed to voters : He served two tours in Iraq and was an Eagle Scout.
Another Tea Party organizer, Craig Nannini, finished last in the primary.
Ridenhour said he's not worried about being limited by being a Tea Party leader in the general election.
"Yes, there have been some people who say, oh, that's the Tea Party guy," Ridenhour said. "But once I engage them, I'll get e-mails from them later saying they'll support me."
Tea Party backers may be associated with the far right politically, but Ridenhour said his campaign themes - fiscal conservatism and limited government - are universal.
McCrory said he disagrees with the Democratic projections. He said that the group of Republican candidates is strong and that the Republicans might win three of four at-large seats.
"Each of the four people bring a unique set of skills," McCrory said. "And by the way, (Ridenhour) has been a community activist, just like the president."
Joel Ford, chairman of Mecklenburg's Democratic Party, said the party's success starts with the mayoral race, and the ability of Democratic candidate Anthony Foxx to increase Democratic turnout against Republican John Lassiter.
"But I like our chances - they don't have a strong No. 2," Ford said, referring to Ridenhour. "The city of Charlotte isn't a city of extremes. When you look at the Tea Party, those views don't resonate with the average Charlottean."
McCorkle said no party has ever had an 8-3 majority on council. The last Republican majority was 6-5, from 1997 to 1999, he said. Before then, the two parties had swapped power since 1977, when districts were added and the races became partisan.
The size of a majority is important. With a 7-4 majority today, Democrats have the seven required votes to override a mayoral veto.
Republican incumbents Andy Dulin and Warren Cooksey are also running for reelection in district races. Their Democratic challengers, Jane Bott Childrey and Marc Friedland, face an uphill battle. Republicans outnumber Democrats in both districts.
GOP candidates tested
If Peacock, Burgess and Cannon are favorites for three of the four at-large seats, that leaves two Democrats, three Republicans and one libertarian candidate, C. Travis Wheat, scrambling for the last seat.
In addition to Ridenhour, Republicans Tariq Scott Bokhari and businesswoman Jaye Rao are on the ticket. They finished third and fourth in the primary, with 13.6 percent and 13.4 percent.
Bokhari, a Wells Fargo risk manager, spoke at a Tea Party event, but he isn't as closely associated with it as Ridenhour. He is a conservative, but is stressing his heftier political resume, which includes an unsuccessful run against Patsy Kinsey for a City Council district seat in 2007, and membership on several community and city committees.
"I think we believe in a lot of the same things," Bokhari said of Ridenhour. "But I think one of the things that will strike a chord among Republican and independent voters is that they will look at my body of work. I have been appointed to committees. I have worked on nonprofits and charities, I have my career in the private sector."
Bokhari said he envisions three scenarios for the at-large races. He said the most likely outcome is a 2-2 split among Democrats and Republicans, which would keep the 7-4 Democratic council majority.
But he said he can envision scenarios in which Democrats take thee of four seats, or the Republicans have a near sweep, winning three of four.
Some Democrats said the Republican's strongest candidate after Peacock might have been Georgia Belk, a moderate businesswoman with a notable last name. Belk was running for office while her husband, Mecklenburg Judge Bill Belk, was accused of judicial misconduct. She failed to qualify for the general election.
Rao, a businesswoman, said she can fit that bill. She said voters are intrigued by her unusual background, having been born in India. She moved to Charlotte when she was 7.
"I think I have a lot of crossover appeal," Rao said. "I'm Indian - there are a lot of people who want to know me. I'm single and not married - it makes for an interesting story. People want to know about their candidates."
Rao said she didn't attend the Tea Parties, though she said they show "our democracy at work." She has worked for Citizens for a Sound Economy, a national conservative group that wrote policy papers advocating economic growth and questioning global warming.
She ran unsuccessfully for the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners in 2008 and was the Republican nominee for Secretary of State in 2004.
Bokhari and Rao said they both voted in the primary for John Lassiter over anti-tax conservative Martin Davis and Jack Stratton. Ridenhour declined to say in an interview who he voted for.
Democratic newcomers
Two Democratic newcomers are also trying to translate their primary success into the general election.
David Howard, a vice president with the nonprofit Housing Partnership, finished third in the Democratic primary with 18.6 percent. Darrin Rankin, who owns an insurance business, was fourth with 14.5 percent. None of the other three Democratic candidates got more than 6.6 percent.
Howard has been a member of the city's planning commission, and has been politically active in the Democratic party. Howard had raised the most money among Rankin, Rao, Ridenhour and Bokhari, among the candidates who've never served on the council before, through the Sept. 8 campaign finance reports, with $16,170.
Howard said his "history of being progressive" will resonate in the general election.
On some issues, Rankin has distanced himself from the other Democratic contenders, taking a more conservative position. He opposed the council's Democratic majority's position to spend $4.5 million to start design work on a streetcar through central Charlotte.
Rankin said he is separating himself from the field by showing that he's an "outsider."
"David isn't on council, but he's been in the exclusive ring of things in Charlotte," Rankin said. "That's symbolic of the problems we have. We can't see the trees from the forest."
Black Political Caucus makes endorsements
The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg on Sunday released its list of endorsements for November's city elections, backing a straight Democratic ticket.
Caucus members held a three-hour, closed-door meeting to debate the candidates and vote on the endorsements. Their picks:
Mayor, Anthony Foxx; City Council at-large, Susan Burgess, Patrick Cannon, David Howard, Darrin Rankin; City Council District 7, Jane Bott Childrey; City Council District 6, Marc Friedland. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education District 1, Robin Bradford; District 2, Richard McElrath; District 3, Joyce Waddell; District 5, no endorsement; District 6, John Ross.
Foxx: No property tax hike for streetcar
Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx said Thursday he wouldn't raise property taxes to pay for a streetcar, despite his vote to move ahead with the project and suggestions from city staff that a hike may be needed.
"We aren't proposing or considering any increase in property taxes, and now would be a terrible time to think of that," he told the Observer. "I will not raise property taxes for the streetcar."
The streetcar and property tax issues came up when Foxx and Republican John Lassiter spoke to a luncheon of the Charlotte Regional Mortgage Lenders Association at the Myers Park Country Club.
Lassiter has also opposed property tax increases.
The rivals, both at-large city council members, were on opposite sides last month when council Democrats overrode Mayor Pat McCrory's veto of $4.5 million to start design work on the line.
The project, which would run from Johnson C. Smith University through uptown to Eastland Mall, would cost over $450 million. It's unclear where the money would come from.
"I could not promise to build something I didn't know how to pay for," Lassiter told the mortgage group.
Foxx defended his vote. He said the line would bring economic development to neighborhoods that need it. One study showed new development could generate $112million in new property taxes over 20 years.
"The future of our city is dependent on making every part ... a great place to live in," he told the group.
On Monday the city staff outlined ways to pay for the line to the council's Transportation Committee, which Foxx chairs. One option called for creating a special taxing district along the line and enacting a 4-cent tax hike for every $100 of taxable value. Another called for a citywide tax increase of 2 cents.
The city's current tax rate is 45.86cents.
"By supporting the streetcar, I'm not committing myself to a property tax increase," Foxx said later.
During the meeting, he defended his vote for a 2006 city budget that raised property taxes 9 percent - the first increase in at least a decade. Lassiter voted against the budget.
Foxx said the tax hike helped pay for the 70 new officers the police chief requested, more than in the no-new-tax budget supported by Lassiter and McCrory. It also brought in money for new roads and neighborhood improvements.
He suggested that without the tax hike, Charlotte's crime rate might not have gone down. Police say it's down 20percent from a year ago.
"You can't out a price on (a) family's sense of safety, put a value on the life saved because we had the additional police officers," he told the group.
Lassiter has criticized "unnecessary and unmanaged government spending" that he says had nothing to do with police, roads or neighborhoods.
Thursday he alluded to this year's General Assembly actions that raised the state sales tax by a penny and enacted surcharges of 2 percent or 3percent on some taxpayers. He told the mortgage lenders that he'll keep taxes down.
"We're in a high-taxed city in a high-taxed state," he said. "We've got to right the ship."
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Sources: Charlotte Observer, Charmeck.org, Google Maps
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