Detroit's Big Issue

The odds were heavy that Detroit's amiable Mayor Louis Miriani, 64, would be re-elected in a breeze. After a decade on Detroit's governing Common Council and four years in the mayor's office, Miriani seemed to be an institution. He had the support not only of Detroit's daily newspapers but of civic leaders ranging from labor officials to Henry Ford II to Democratic Senator Patrick McNamara. Opposing Miriani in the nonpartisan election was an unknown named Jerome P. Cavanagh, 33, a lawyer who had never before run for public office. At first, Cavanagh's chief political asset seemed to be his photogenic wife and six children. But as the campaign progressed, Cavanagh developed a big issue: the economic health of Detroit.

Miriani maintained that Detroit was in good shape, pointed with pride to his record as mayor; he cited a $47 million urban renewal program with seven major projects under way, economies that had saved the city some $25 million, the completion of the $70 million Cobo Convention Hall and Arena. Cried Miriani: "Detroit is on the move to a destiny of greatness."

But Cavanagh insisted that Detroit had a chronic unemployment problem (current rate: 10%, v. the national average of 6.8%). He charged that industry was pulling out of the city. He claimed that the number of vacant housing units in the city jumped from 9,407 in 1950 to 38,362 in 1960. He cited a report of the nonprofit Citizens' Research Council that predicted that Detroit would have a municipal deficit of $15 million in 1961-62. "Detroit has serious problems and the mayor won't admit it," said Cavanagh. "What about the neighborhoods where people are worrying about how they are going to keep their homes? How about the thousands of small businesses that have closed? Yet our mayor claims everything is just rosy and getting better."

Last week the citizens of Detroit made their own decision about the big issue--and the candidates. Drawing particularly strong support from the city's Negroes, Jerry Cavanagh was elected mayor by a vote of 200,413 to 158,778, scoring one of the nation's biggest upsets.

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