Kimatian (left) for the GOP, Jennings (right) the Conservative Party.
Political novice Steve Kimatian is the Republican candidate for mayor in November.
“That’s the great thing about the democratic process. You can do everything you know how to do to win but you can’t roll the ball over the goal line. The voter gets the chance to carry the ball and I’m thankful that I was the one they chose to carry there,” Kimatian said on primary night in September, as his supporters toasted his unexpected victory with champagne.
Kimatian beat Otis Jennings, the Republican Party’s designated candidate, in the primary Sept. 15. In unofficial results, Jennings received 1,271 votes to Kimatian’s 1,645. Kimatian will run against Democratic candidate Stephanie Miner on Nov. 3.
Jennings is pursuing the mayor’s office as the candidate of the Conservative Party.
“I made a commitment early on to stay in the race until November and I plan on following through with that commitment,” Jennings said Sept. 15 after the primary results. On Monday, Sept. 21, at a press conference, he more formally declared that he would not endorse Kimatian but stay in the mayor’s race on the Conservative Party ticket.
Jennings is the first African-American to run for mayor in Syracuse’s 161-year history. He served as commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs from 1994 to 2002. He has given numerous motivational and commencement speeches in the Syracuse City School District and is now an adjunct professor at the Manlius Pebble Hill school. He has said his key issue is education. He supports the Say Yes to Education program and wants to create after-school community and mentoring programs.
Going into the Republican primary, Kimatian, a lawyer for Newport Television, had little political experience before he decided to run for mayor five months ago. Before moving to Syracuse he lived in Queens Baltimore and then Buffalo. He has said he wants to model Syracuse’s revitalization after Baltimore’s. Kimatian worked for WSYR- TV in Syracuse and casts himself as campaigning on his experience from the business-communications world. His stands on issues, he has said, come from the feedback he gets from talking with voters while campaigning door-to-door.
Kimatian’s main concerns are education, economic development and crime. His plans for safety and security include creating a citywide curfew of 11 p.m. for children ages 16 and under, increasing patrol in high-crime areas and purchasing more surveillance equipment for officers.
Kimatian’s 250-vote victory surprised many political experts who thought Jennings’ following and funding would win him the candidacy.
Kimatian raised only $33,973 in campaign funds compared to Jennings’ $137,781, according to campaign finance reports filed with the New York state Board of Elections. And Kimatian was the predicted loser going into primary night.
“I think everyone was very surprised. ‘Upset’ is definitely the term to use,” said David Richardson, political science and economics professor at Syracuse University. “One thing is Otis Jennings is a kind of political fixture in town. He’s very well connected in public service and well acknowledged and I think voters may have wanted a change. They don’t want any more fixtures around.”
Another theory is that race may have been a factor.
“The harsh reality is you’ve got a Republican party and the primary voter is much older, white and probably not terribly inclined to vote for a black man,” said Jeffrey Stonecash, political science professor at Syracuse University who had been a frequent pollster for local candidates.
Despite Kimatian’s primary victory, the numbers are stacked against him in November.
Syracuse has 38, 863 registered Democrats; 2,859 members of the Independence Party; and 12,980 registered Republicans, according to the New York State Board of Elections. And as of the Sept. 15 primary, Miner had raised $398,027. That’s 11 times the amount of money as Kimatian.
“It’d take a huge stumble by Miner for Kimatian to win,” said SU political scientist Stonecash.
But Kimatian, who’s running on both the Republican and Independence Party tickets, is relying on his appeal across party lines to win him the election. That’s how he won the primary, he said in claiming that victory.
“I wasn’t elected by people who believed in the party because I wasn’t endorsed by the party,” Kimatian said. “I was elected by people who believed in the city and what could be done to better it.”
(Julia Terruso is a junior majoring in newspaper journalism and political science.)
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