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The Contender
Can Beverly Earle defeat Pat McCrory and become Charlotte's next mayor?
Page 3 of 5
In a nutshell, that approach -- seeking coordinated efforts with civic groups, working "across lines" with county government, and seeking new ideas to deal with citywide issues -- is at the core of Earle's mayoral campaign. Nearly every time she was asked about an issue, her response and solutions came down to getting various groups to work together to solve problems.
"I feel I'd be able to get Council to be responsive to what citizens want from the whole city. It's a matter of listening, responding when you can, and having the citizens feel that you are listening, and that they have a voice."
Can She Beat McCrory?
Even if you agree with Beverly Earle about the issues -- and obviously, some won't, especially many Republicans -- the question remains whether she has a chance of beating a mayor who has been re-elected to the office five times. People in the political realm whom we spoke to gave differing opinions.
Ted Arrington, a poli-sci professor at UNC Charlotte and longtime commentator on local politics, says Earle's candidacy is a longshot. "She's not an ideal candidate," Arrington said, "She doesn't have enough name recognition, and probably not enough money. McCrory has plenty of money, and he can saturate the area. She'll also need to reach white Democrats throughout the city and not just rely on the black vote. I'm not saying it's impossible. McCrory is beatable with enough money, but she probably won't have that. Plus, the truth is that more Republicans turn out to vote against blacks."
County Commissioner Parks Helms, a Democrat, says that, ironically, Earle can probably profit from McCrory having been in office so long. "She can benefit from 'McCrory fatigue' -- 12 years is a long time, as I know myself from being on County Commission for a while. He's a bit shopworn, and people on Council say he's become testy, as if he wants to leave but doesn't know what else to do. Charlotte is going through a lot of changes and we need a mayor who can be a deep thinker and see the city long-term."
One professional political worker said Earle should take the problems she has had, such as having to pay off her son's loan, reported recently in the Observer, "and turn that around and use it as a positive. Those are the kinds of things that have happened to thousands of people in Mecklenburg County -- she should say 'I'm one of you -- I understand what it's like.' Which, conveniently, is also true."
A longtime Democratic advisor who asked that his/her name not be used said that many Democrats don't believe Earle can beat McCrory on November 6, "and that is the main thing she needs to overcome. McCrory is as vulnerable as he's been, but there's not a lot of confidence out there that Beverly's the one to take him on."
Evans, Earle's co-campaign manager, strongly disagrees with that assessment, as you would expect.
"We're going to be more than competitive. As of now, we have more than 200 volunteers, we have $30,000 in the bank (McCrory has more than a half-million), our fundraising is picking up steam, and our support is growing very well. We don't need as much money as McCrory -- we're reaching out to the grassroots, as is customary in Democratic campaigns. I'll put it this way: we have way more money than Craig Madans did two years ago, and he got 43 percent of the vote." (Madans spent around $9,000 on his 2005 mayoral campaign.) Evans also said the campaign plans to take advantage of the new same-day registration rules, which allow early voters to register to vote at the polling place.
After weighing the views of various political insiders, these appear to be the factors working in favor of Earle's election:
• An energetic candidate with a new approach to governing.
• "McCrory fatigue."
• A strong history among Democratic candidates, particularly black candidates, of being able to get their supporters to the voting booth.
• Many east side and west side voters are unhappy with city government and feel ignored and taken for granted.
• She has a sizably larger war chest than McCrory's opponent had in the past two or three elections.
• So far, McCrory's challengers have been so weak, the mayor is, for all intents and purposes, untested in a serious re-election campaign.
• The perception among voters that Uptown businesses, with which McCrory is closely aligned, have a chokehold on city government.
• The same-day registration rules Evans mentioned.
On the other side of the ledger, some of the factors working against Beverly Earle's campaign are:
• McCrory's huge advantage in campaign funding, and the possibility of her being overwhelmed in terms of paid advertising.
Click here to see a list of Beverly Earle's contributors – and how much they donated.
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