Jackson Easily Wins Atlanta Mayor’s Race : 2 Blacks Lead Primary in Cleveland, Will Be in Runoff for Top City Post

Maynard Jackson, the first black mayor of Atlanta, easily regained his old job Tuesday, while voters in Cleveland forced a November runoff between two black mayoral candidates.

In addition, a runoff will be needed in Mississippi to fill an open House seat.

The 51-year-old Jackson, who served as mayor of Georgia’s largest city from 1973 to 1981, faced six other candidates for the job, held since 1981 by Andrew Young, who served the maximum two consecutive terms and has begun an unannounced effort to become the state’s first black governor.

Williams Defeated

Jackson’s main opponent was Hosea Williams, a veteran of the civil rights movement who hoped to combine with other candidates to deny Jackson 50% of the vote and force a runoff.

But, with 50% of the vote counted, Jackson had an unbeatable 4-1 lead over Williams, who had entered the mayoral race just 15 minutes before the qualifying deadline last August to prevent what he called “a coronation of Maynard.”

The race drew little enthusiasm, and officials estimated that only 35% of Atlanta’s 193,000 registered voters went to the polls.

In Cleveland, two veteran black politicians, City Council President George Forbes and state Sen. Michael White, defeated three white candidates to win the top two spots in a mayoral primary and a chance to face each other in November.

To Replace Voinovich

The winner in November will replace Republican George Voinovich, who served 10 years--the longest tenure in city history. Voinovich, who last year lost an attempt to unseat Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), decided not to run for reelection so he could concentrate on a campaign for governor next year.

Final unofficial results showed Forbes winning first place easily, with 46,493 votes, or 37.5%. White, a former protege of Forbes, had 31,440, or 25.4%, edging out Clerk of Courts Benny Bonanno, who had 28,268, or 22.8%.

Mississippians split in choosing a successor to Republican Rep. Larkin Smith, who was killed in an August plane crash, setting up an Oct. 17 runoff between the top two finishers.

Fails to Get Majority

Democratic state Sen. Gene Taylor led the field but did not receive a majority and thus was forced into the runoff with Republican Tom Anderson, a millionaire and longtime aide to Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

With all 391 precincts reporting, Taylor had 51,514 votes, or 42%, and Anderson had 45,705 votes, or 37%.

In Phoenix, Mayor Terry Goddard was favored to win a fourth term in his race against state Republican Party Chairman Burton Kruglick and real estate broker Norris Inman. Voters also were considering a proposal to build a downtown baseball stadium.

Albuquerque, N.M., Mayor Ken Schultz was trying to become the first mayor to be elected to back-to-back terms since the city switched to a mayor-council form of government 15 years ago. He had seven challengers.