For Alfonso Davis, running for mayor of Syracuse is a leap of faith.
The decision came to him, he recalls, sitting in his hotel room at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
“I was getting dressed on a Tuesday morning and it came to me,” Davis said. “I believe God said to me ‘If not you, who? If not now when?’ I wanted to take it before the Lord. And I waited for my response, which I got in Denver.”
Davis, 43, is among five candidates for the mayor’s office in the fall 2009 election. As of April, the other candidates are Democrats Stephanie Miner, a 38-year-old ex-lawyer and current Common Councilor-at-Large; and Joe Nicoletti, a 61-year old business consultant and former Common Councilor. Miner won the mayoral nomination from the Onondaga County Democratic Committee on May 6. But Nicoletti has said he will challenge her in a primary election for the nomination.
For the Republicans, Otis Jennings, 52, the former Syracuse parks commissioner, has the nomination from the Onondaga County Republican party. But he is faces a primary-election challenge from Steve Kimatian, 67, a local TV executive.
All are vying to succeed Mayor Matt Driscoll, who cannot run for a third term. The primary is Sept. 15 and the general election is Nov. 3.
For Davis’ part, he acknowledges his campaign will likely need some near-miracles to overcome his relative political obscurity and lack of campaign funds. His candidacy marks his first time in the campaign foreground instead of his role as a campaign manager and consultant. But he brings to the race, he and others say, a mixture of political mission and religious faith that has shaped much of his life.
To voters, he presents himself as a candidate, Davis says, who will focus on long-standing problems in Syracuse. His campaign focuses largely on reforming diminished areas of the West and South Side housing projects — an area where Davis himself was born and raised.
“I believe the people want to see somebody who has an understanding and perspective from every level,” Davis said. “And I believe I am that person.”
A lifetime resident of Syracuse, Davis was born in Syracuse’s Pioneer Homes housing projects in the South Side in 1966 to Dobie and the late Thelma Davis. He graduated from Corcoran High School in 1984 and from Onondaga Community College with a degree in human services. He attended State University College at Oswego for his degree in elementary education and was elected as student body president.
For 12 years, Davis worked on the sub-assembly line at New Process Gear. He took a buyout from the company in 2008. He is married to Felicia Davis and they have four children: Zarfara, Tizera, Jecoura and LaQuan.
And as he prepares for the mayor’s race, Davis and his campaign manager Charles Anderson are looking to raise Davis’ profile. Most days, Davis goes door-to-door in his old stomping grounds, giving his sales pitch and trying to mobilize supporters.
As he walks up and down the streets of the South and West sides, Anderson said, people recognize Davis. “When he comes around it’s not like a stranger knocking on the door,” Anderson said. “He’s a part of the community.”
Davis’ next door neighbor of four years, Michael Nilan, was one of the first to hear Davis’s door-to-door pitch for his candidacy. He likes the way Davis listens during his trips, Nilan said, and even made a donation to the campaign. “He came over, talked about the campaign. I think I gave him a couple of bucks,” Nilan said. “He’s young, but he seems like a nice guy, a regular guy.”
The door-knocking routine is nothing new to Davis. He’s been in local politics, he says, for 24 years. He got his start, he said, as a volunteer for the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s inaugural run for the Democratic ticket in 1984. Since then, he’s worked on the campaigns of City Court Judge Langston McKinney and the Common Council race for Anderson his current campaign manager.
But this time around, Davis and his wife Felicia said, his campaign is special because it enlists his entire family. Their 9-year-old daughter Jecoura, said Felicia Davis, is embracing the grass-roots theme of the campaign and hits the trail for her father whenever she can.
“She speaks to her friends and when she has play dates, she speaks to her friend’s parents,” said Felicia Davis. “So she’s done an awesome job informing those in her circle about her dad’s run for mayor.
Despite the support, Davis admits the campaign gets tough. In campaign fundraising, for example, he has a small war chest that sits at $2,080 — least among the three Democratic candidates.
For strength, he says, he turns to his faith for the will to keep going. He is a member of Gospel Temple Church of God and Christ on Oakwood Avenue. He is defined, he said, by his faith in God.
“I don’t go by what I see. I go by faith. I’m running on faith,” said Davis, “and God is my source.”
His faith shows up in many details of Davis’ life. For example, his home answering machine greets callers this way: “God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.”
Belief, he says, will help him fulfill the destiny that was instilled in him that Tuesday morning at the Democratic National Convention. A message that was so strong, he can’t ignore it.
“Now I feel I can do whatever I set my mind to,” Davis said. “I have no choice but to believe.”
(Conor Orr is a junior broadcast journalism and political science major)
-30-
