The 1979 Cleveland mayoral election took place on November 6, 1979, to elect the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. George Voinovich defeated incumbent mayor Dennis Kucinich. The election was officially nonpartisan, with the top two candidates from the October 2 primary advancing to the general election.

Background

Kucinich had a turbulent mayoralty since he was elected in 1977. He had, in 1978, survived Cleveland's first-ever mayoral

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...

Primary

As election season approached, Kucinich decided to run again in the mayoral primary. In April, state senator, Charles L. Butts announced that he would enter the race. On July 5, council majority leader,

Basil Russo Basil M. Russo (born March 10, 1947) is an American attorney, politician of the Democratic Party, and judge. He was majority leader of the Cleveland City Council. Later he served as a judge of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and a j ...

joined the race. Finally, after off-and-on remarks of his candidacy, Republican George Voinovich, who initially supported Kucinich in 1977, decided to give up his position as

lieutenant governor of Ohio The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve as ...

to run on July 26. Unlike the 1977 race, however, there were very few debates. ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'' endorsed Voinovich while ''

The Cleveland Press The ''Cleveland Press'' was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis B. Seltzer. Known for many years as one of the country's most in ...

'' endorsed Butts. On primary night at Kucinich headquarters, "the band played the theme from ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...

''," while Kucinich spoke of the race in the form of a football metaphor: "We are trailing at the half, but what counts is who's winning at the end of the fourth quarter." However, in the primary, the mayor finished second to Voinovich, 47,743 to 36,515 votes. Russo and Butts were eliminated.

General election campaign

Most expected a heated campaign between the two politicians of South Slavic descent (Kucinich being a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

and Voinovich a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

). Early in the race, Kucinich jumped on a quote that Voinovich made to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' on August 26: "I like fat cats. I want as many in Cleveland as I can get. Cleveland needs their tax dollars and the jobs they bring." In response, Kucinich stated: "George Voinovich has proven conclusively...–he is the candidate of the fat cats...and he would love to become the mayor of the fat cats so he can repay their generosity." Part of Kucinich's campaign tactics involved distributing political pamphlets throughout the city entitled "Who Owns Voinovich?" The cover illustration depicted three fat cats with Voinovich in front of them with handfuls of money. However, everything came to a virtual halt when Voinovich's nine-year-old daughter, Molly, was struck by a van and killed.Swanstrom, p. 219. Kucinich could no longer continue his aggressive campaigning against Voinovich. Polls, which were already leaning in Voinovich's favor, now showed overwhelming support for the former lieutenant governor. On November 6, he won the general election with 94,541 votes to 73,755. Of the 33 wards of Cleveland at the time, Kucinich only won eight.

Endorsements

Results

Primary election

General election

References

{{1979 United States elections 1970s in Cleveland Cleveland mayoral

Dennis Kucinich Mayoral elections in Cleveland Non-partisan elections November 1979 events in the United States