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Cincinnati mayor wins re-election

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By DAN SEWELL, The Associated Press Updated 12:11 AM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

CINCINNATI — Mayor Mark Mallory handily won a second term Tuesday, four years after becoming the city's first directly elected black mayor.

The Democratic member of a prominent political family said he has helped improve Cincinnati's image and reduce violent crime. He won 54 percent of the vote over Republican newcomer Brad Wenstrup in the officially nonpartisan election.

With all precincts reporting unofficial returns, Mallory had 36,444 votes, to Wenstrup's 30,901 votes, or 46 percent.

Voting also went Mallory's way on a local ballot issue. Voters rejected 56 percent to 44 percent a measure that would have required a vote by the electorate before spending on a passenger rail system such as the downtown streetcar system Mallory wants.

That was among issues the two candidates differed on. Mallory sees it as a boost to downtown development, while Wenstrup said it was too costly at a time when the city faced tough economic problems.

Wenstrup, 51, a podiatrist and Iraq War veteran, highlighted city budget problems in his first run for office and said he would bring "real-life experience" to the job held by the son of a longtime state legislator. The city's police union backed Wenstrup after clashing with Mallory over potential police layoffs.

Mallory, 47, pointed to a drop in homicides and other violent crime since he took office and said he has kept his pledge to help rebuild the image of a city that was hit by 2001 race riots and a subsequent black convention boycott. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is among major organizations that have held conventions in Cincinnati during his mayoral term.

The Cincinnati Enquirer gave Mallory its endorsement while criticizing him for heavy-handed political leadership this year. It urged him to return to leading as "a mayor of all Cincinnatians, regardless of party, neighborhood, ideology, ethnicity or socio-economic background."

Cincinnati is Ohio's third-largest city, with more than 330,000 residents.

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November 04, 2009 05:08 AM EST

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