Rizzo Refuses to Concede to Mayor Goode

Democrats on Wednesday celebrated their victories in off-year governors’ elections in Kentucky and Mississippi and started planning their new administrations, while GOP challenger Frank L. Rizzo defiantly refused to concede defeat to incumbent W. Wilson Goode in Philadelphia’s bitter mayoral race.

In Kentucky, Gov.-elect Wallace Wilkinson’s 65%-35% defeat of Republican State Rep. John Harper gave him the biggest victory margin in Kentucky history, and he claimed a mandate to enact a statewide lottery and resist a tax increase.

And in Mississippi, Ray Mabus, who defeated Republican Jack Reed by 53% to 47%, said his victory was a signal that the South is changing.

“I think this is a new day for Mississippi,” said Mabus, who campaigned as a crusader after spending a term as auditor investigating irregularities by county supervisors around the state. His campaign platform included a promise to raise the pay of Mississippi teachers to the average for Southeastern states--which Reed said would cost $165 million--without a tax increase.

‘A Preview for 1988’

Julie Anbender, speaking for the Democratic National Committee in Washington, called the outcome of the two gubernatorial contests “a good preview for 1988. . . . We’re extremely pleased.”

Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., national GOP chairman, noted that Mississippi has not elected a Republican governor in 114 years and said: “The Democrats were barely able to pull this one out. . . . Jack Reed’s strong showing in Mississippi is good news for the Republican Party.”

In Philadelphia’s mayoral race, Goode had 51% of the vote to 49% for Rizzo, with only seven of the 1,739 precincts missing. But Rizzo, a former police commissioner and two-term Democratic mayor who switched parties to challenge Goode, said he would not give up until the official vote count is completed.

Goode, the first black to lead his city, claimed victory to his second term and called for unity after a bitter campaign.

Miami to Have Runoff

In other municipal elections, Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez fell short of the majority needed for outright election and headed for a runoff next Tuesday with former Mayor Maurice Ferre. Boston Mayor Ray Flynn won for a second time and Houston’s Kathy Whitmire and Indianapolis’ William Hudnut for a fourth.

Baltimore got its first elected black mayor, Kurt L. Schmoke, the city prosecutor who swamped Republican Samuel Culotta. In Hartford, Conn., Democrat Carrie Saxon Perry became the first black woman to be elected mayor of a major New England city, handily defeating Republican Philip L. Steele.

In statewide and local initiatives, Virginia voters said yes to establishment of a statewide lottery, but Maine refused for the third time in seven years to pull the plug on its only operating nuclear power plant.

Texans legalized race track betting, while voters in the District of Columbia rejected a proposal to require a deposit on bottles and cans containing beer and soft drinks.