Four of the New Mayors

NEW YORK: Bored and exhausted by the internecine political wars of the past decade, Democrats finally agreed on--or succumbed to--a single choice for mayor. If for no other reason, bantam-size Abe Beame, 67, had earned the designation because of his 40 years of unstinting service to the party. Picking up support from the right and left, from reformers and clubhouse regulars, from real estate interests and civil service unions, the city comptroller rolled up a staggering 58% of the vote, leaving his three opponents pathetically far behind.

The campaign was noteworthy for its lack of issues. None of the other candidates could get any closer to the center than former Teacher and Public Accountant Beame, who hugged it for dear life. Republican Candidate John Marchi dropped his scholarly stance to denounce the courts for letting off violent criminals, but Beame could hardly be accused of being soft on crime. Al Blumenthal, the Liberal Party candidate, could not make much headway in a year when his supporters were tired and divided; Conservative Mario Biaggi, one of the most decorated cops in city history, was destined to finish last after it was revealed that he had lied about his testimony to a grand jury investigating immigration bills he had sponsored in the House of Representatives.

Beame was also helped by the fact that he is Jewish--and New York, the city with the world's largest Jewish population (1,836,000), surprisingly has never had a Jewish mayor. He promises to run a much more tidy ship than the flashy outgoing mayor John Lindsay. Steady as she goes suits New Yorkers' present mood.

DETROIT: The obvious issue was scarcely mentioned in the campaign. Though a black man and a white man were competing for the office, they behaved as if race did not matter. It did, of course. The growing black population (about 50% of the electorate) made it inevitable that sooner or later a black mayor would be elected. It turned out to be sooner. Coleman A. Young, 55, a smooth-talking state senator, defeated John Nichols, 54, a former police commissioner by 232,000 votes to 217,000.

As in other urban races, the most talked-about issue was crime and the toll it was taking of the city. White residents and white businesses have been fleeing to the suburbs; streets in both black and white areas are eerily deserted at night, when few dare to venture out. But black and white remedies differed. Nichols had set up a controversial street crime unit called STRESS (Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets), which had cut down crime but antagonized blacks by shooting too often from the hip. Promising that he would disband STRESS, Young proposed to put more cops on the beat and to set up mini-police stations in 50 different neighborhoods. Both candidates also offered a variety of thoughtful proposals for better housing and transportation.

An independent, Nichols tried to tie his Democratic opponent to Watergate in oblique fashion. "The last thing this city needs is another politician," he said over and over again. In fact, Young won because he is a forceful politician, not just because he is black. In a sense, he has been practicing the political trade all his life. He fought for black rights first at Ford Motor Co., then at the post office, then in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He became the third-ranking leader of the state AFL-CIO and won election to the Michigan senate, where he became Democratic floor leader and played a leading part in the passage of an open-housing law. He insists that he will be mayor of all the people: "There is a minority in this city who see this victory as a chance to strike back for 300 years of oppression. Anyone who sees the election in these terms must be smoking pot."

CLEVELAND: Despite Watergate, despite a Democratic registration of 8 to 1, Republican Incumbent Ralph Perk handily won re-election with 61.4% of the vote. His secret: he played the ethnic game like a master. In a city whose population is 35% ethnic, ranging from Lithuanians to Ukrainians, Perk moved from one club to the next, sampling native dishes, admiring native costumes, joining native dances. Each ethnic group considered him one of its own (he is actually Czech). Even his frequent mishaps endeared him to his constituents. Once, at a convention of metalworkers, he set his bushy hair on fire while trying to work a blowtorch.

The election, in fact, was a cakewalk; Perk had virtually assured his victory in the nonpartisan primary last month when he defeated the Democratic candidate, millionaire real estate developer James Carney. After losing, Carney decided to drop out of the general election, and the party made a hasty substitute of Mercedes Cotner, 68, who is clerk of the city council. In the smallest voter turnout (46%) in 40 years, Cotner won in all the black wards while Perk was victorious in the white ones. Yet Perk also picked up an impressive 28% of the black vote because he promised that he would not raise the city income tax and he has demonstrated that he can provide city services.

The glum Democrats figure that as long as Perk is around they will never be able to recapture city hall. But Perk may be moving on sooner than expected and playing the ethnic game on a larger board. With some backing from the city AFL-CIO, Perk may try to run for Governor against John Gilligan or for the Senate seat vacated by William Saxbe.

MINNEAPOLIS: For the first time, municipal candidates were designated by party on the ballot to make it easier for the Democrats to win. That gave the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Candidate Albert Hofstede, 33, a clear advantage over Incumbent Charles Stenvig, 45, an independent. Hofstede had other advantages as well to account for his 58,000-to-54,000 vote victory. He is bright and energetic, and enjoyed the support of popular Democratic Governor Wendell Anderson, who had appointed him chairman of the Metropolitan Council. Though Stenvig is a tough law-and-order former city detective who had been elected after the campus and ghetto rioting in 1969, he has been a do-nothing mayor.

He also ran a do-nothing campaign. While Stenvig kept a relaxed schedule and ducked the issues, Hofstede put in 18 hours a day beginning at factory gates in the morning and ending up at ethnic clubs in the evening. Though he has a monotone delivery and only the faintest touch of charisma, he was admired for his earnestness. His volunteers also managed to leaflet every household in the city at least twice.

Oddly enough, Hofstede managed to bring Watergate into the campaign, even though Stenvig's administration has not been touched by scandal. He compared Stenvig's style of campaigning to Nixon's. Both, said Hofstede, stayed holed up in their offices, both refused to debate, both would not disclose their campaign contributors--not that, in Stenvig's case, his campaign costs amounted to much. Toward the end of the race, polls showed that the voters had caught on to the comparisons.

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