St. Petersburg's African-American vote aligns with candidate Kathleen Ford

[SugarShack]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/local/st-petersburgs-african-american-vote-aligns-with-candidate-kathleen-ford/2125689

ST. PETERSBURG — A month ago, campaign signs for the mayor's race were a rare sight in the city's predominantly African-American neighborhoods.

Now a sea of red, white and blue "Kathleen Ford for Mayor" placards dominate intersections and side streets in pivotal neighborhoods south of Central Avenue.
The surge came immediately after Goliath Davis, one of the community's most influential leaders as well as a former police chief and city administrator, proclaimed that Ford is a viable candidate to lead the city.

Are the signs a result of Davis or simply coincidence? It depends who you ask.

"It's who people like," said Lonnie Anderson, 67, as he sold produce out of the back of his truck on Sixth Avenue S last week. "I like what Goliath said, but people still make up their own minds."

Even though the Aug. 27 primary is still nearly three months away — an eternity in politics — local polls and yard signs seem to show Mayor Bill Foster and challenger Rick Kriseman aren't wooing many voters in predominantly black neighborhoods.

That message appears unified throughout the African-American community.
"I'm sure she'll do better than Foster," said Yvonne Clayton, 73, who has a Ford sign in her front yard. "She will listen and communicate with all the people."
• • •
Winning over black voters is considered crucial to landing the city's top job.
The city's majority black neighborhoods often vote as a near-monolithic bloc and have sided with the winner in recent campaigns.

Foster, 50, carried the vote over Ford in 2009, but his support could be slipping.

"I don't see anything he has done," Laminka Williams, 39, said while sitting under a dryer at the House of Styles on 18th Avenue S. "He says one thing and does another."

Janett Albritton said she drove a Ford sign into her Harbordale yard for one reason: She doesn't like the way Foster holds "secret meetings" on major issues and refuses to speak afterwards.

She knows the praise Davis heaped on Ford but said residents are engaged in the race. She grew agitated while recalling how Foster forgot that Sweetbay officials visited his office two years before the store closed.
"Ford is the best thing," said Albritton, 63, a part-time receptionist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Commission. "Right now, she is listening to us."

Foster also said he initiated the African American Heritage Project and had blighted homes removed from the Childs Park and Melrose neighborhoods.

"I think the area is better because of our emphasis," he said. "There's a lot there."
A Tampa Bay Times reporter found one Foster campaign sign in the neighborhood, but residents there did not answer the door.

Kriseman, 50, said he is confident he'll win black support as the campaign progresses. He pointed out that Ford lost black precincts in earlier races to Foster and former Mayor Rick Baker.

Ford said she is glad that residents want a new leader.
"I'm very appreciative of the support I've received throughout the city," Ford said. "I've told everyone that I'm going to work hard. I will speak wherever people want."

A recent telephone survey shows her gaining traction.
Among 325 black voters polled on May 30, Ford beat Foster, taking 38 percent to his 21 percent. Kriseman won 9 percent. Twenty-six percent of black voters said they were undecided, according to a poll done by StPetePolls.org and commissioned by local blogger Peter Schorsch. The poll has a margin of error of 5.4 percentage points.
In a two-way contest among black voters, Ford beat Foster 52.5 percent to 26.5 percent. Twenty-one percent were undecided.

Clayton, a retired teacher, said she believes Ford will improve education for the city's children. Foster, she said, hasn't pushed the city forward.

"I can't think of anything he has done to help," she said. "He can't remember conversations he tells people. Maybe he shouldn't have been mayor."
• • •

While speaking last fall at a memorial for Spc. Brittany Gordon, an Army intelligence analyst and daughter of assistant police chief Cedric Gordon, Ford talked about the friendship between her daughter and Brittany Gordon.
Moses Holmes, 77, walked away impressed.

"I saw a different side of her. It changed my mind. I told her she should show the public that side."

more at link above...

Mark Puente can be reached at [e-mail] or [phone]. Follow him at Twitter at twitter.com/markpuente.
St. Petersburg's African-American vote aligns with candidate Kathleen Ford 06/08/13 [Last modified: Saturday, June 8, 2013 11:45pm]

[independentpiney]

1. The only signs I've seen in the Tyrone area are Ford signs as well

Only 2 or 3 out yet, but still. Third time's a charm I hope.

[SugarShack]

2. Yes, the citizens of St Pete are getting it. Ford will clean up corruption and move forward