1967 Cleveland mayoral election

The Cleveland mayoral election of 1967 saw the election of Carl Stokes.

Cleveland mayoral election, 1967

November 7, 1967

Nominee Carl Stokes Seth Taft Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 129,318 127,467 Percentage 50.36% 49.64%

Mayor before election Ralph S. Locher Democratic Elected Mayor Carl Stokes Democratic

Stokes was the first elected African American mayor of a major American city (Cleveland was, at the time, the ninth largest city in the United States).[1][2] His election came alongside the election of Richard G. Hatcher in the 1967 Gary, Indiana mayoral election. Together, these were the first elections of African-Americans as mayors of cities over 100,000.[3] Stoke's election came in a city which was, at the time, 68% white.[2]

Nominations

Primaries were held on October 3.[4][5]

Democratic primary

Stokes unseated incumbent mayor Ralph S. Locher in the Democratic Party primary.

1967 Cleveland mayoral Democratic primary[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carl Stokes	110,769	53.68%
	Democratic	Ralph S. Locher (incumbent)	92,033	44.60%
	Democratic	Frank P. Celeste	3,545	1.72%
Turnout			206,347

General election

1967 Cleveland mayoral election (general election)[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carl Stokes	129,318	50.36%
	Republican	Seth Taft	127,467	49.64%
Turnout			256,785

References

1. "50 years ago: Cleveland's Carl Stokes elected first black mayor of a major U.S. city (vintage photos)". Cleveland.com. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
2. Bibb, Leon (8 October 2020). "A Turning Point: The Cleveland election watched around the world". wkyc.com. WKYC. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
3. Morial, Marc H. (31 July 2017). "50 Years Of Black Mayors". HuffPost. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
4. "RaceID=548323". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
5. "RaceID=481269". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 9, 2019.