May 21, 2007

Election 2007: Mayor Brainard Wins Bid in Carmel, Seeking 4th Term Takes GOP Primary with Ease
Excerpts from The Indianapolis Star, May 9

Voters said May 8 that Carmel (IN) Mayor James Brainard’s vision for the city’s future may be a little pricey, but they’ll give him another four years in city hall to see it through.

With all city precincts counted, Brainard received 6,219 votes to the 4,245 of challenger John R. Koven in the Republican Party primary.

Brainard’s 59 percent margin was less than the 65 percent he received four years ago, but he still saw it as an endorsement of the many redevelopment deals and building projects he’s started. “We were pretty aggressive with all of the projects we’ve undertaken in the last four years, so nearly 60 percent seems pretty good,” he said.

Brainard campaigned on his record of low property tax rates while beginning construction in the Arts and Design District and the City Center with its $80 million-plus concert hall.

Carolina Mayor Jose Aponte de la Torre died May 3 after 23 days in intensive care unit of the Hospital del Maestro in Puerto Rico.

Aponte was first elected mayor of Carolina in November 1984 and served for 23 years. The city of 186,000 is adjacent to San Juan, the island’s capitol city.

Throughout his term, Aponte, a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP), which is pro-commonwealth, was President of that party’s mayors association. As mayor, he was a vocal and staunch supporter of municipal autonomy for the island’s 78 mayors and also an avid defender of the U.s. Navy’s removal from the island of Vieques, a position supported by the Conference of Mayors.

The PDP must determine who will occupy the municipal post until the next election in November 2008.

Nutter, Former Philadelphia City Councilman, Wins Democratic Primary for Mayor May 15

Michael Nutter, a former member of the city council, May 15 won the Democratic primary for mayor. His primary win is expected to guarantee him the position in a city that has not had a Republican mayor since 1948.

Nutter will take over from Mayor John Street. Nutter, 49, clinched the contest with 35 percent of the vote in the five-candidate field. The general election is in November.

Nutter is a former disc jockey and investment manager. He was educated at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

During the campaign, the Democratic candidates proposed different solutions to gun violence, which has pushed homicides to their highest level in a decade. Nutter proposed declaring a state of emergency in high-crime areas where the police would have the power to stop and frisk people suspected of carrying illegal guns.

Former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes announced her campaign for Congress to run against Representative Sam Graves, Republican incumbent, in the Missouri State 6th District. Graves was first elected in 2000.

Barnes recently completed her second term as mayor.

Former Kansas City Mayor Emanuel Cleaver, now a Congressman, said he would campaign vigorously on her behalf.

In a press conference last month, Senator Kit Bond, a Republican, said Barnes showed “commitment and dedication” as mayor that led to making Kansas City “a better place to live and work.”