Let’s take a look at Democratic mayors

Now here’s an interesting question:

Do really poor people elect Democratic mayors, or do Democratic mayors produce the highest percentage level of poverty in America?

    Hmmm.  Something to consider.

Taking the latest numbers out there, look at these cities with more than 250,000 population, the top 10 in the nation with the highest level of poverty

1.  Detroit       32.5 percent below poverty

2.  Buffalo              29.9 percent

3.  Cincinnati               27.8 percent

4,  Cleveland                27.0 percent

5,  Miami                26.9 percent

6.  St. Louis               26.8 percent

7.  El Paso          26.4 percent

8.  Milwaukee          26.2 percent

9.  Philadelphia        25.1 percent

10. Newark            24.2 percent

    So what, you say.  Yeah, so what?

It seems that all of the 10 cities listed above have something interesting in common.

    Detroit hasn’t elected a Republican Mayor since 1961.

    Buffalo hasn’t elected a Republican Mayor since 1954.

    Cincinnati hasn’t elected a Republican Mayor since 1984.

    Cleveland hasn’t elected a Republican Mayor since 1989.

   Miami has never elected a Republican mayor.

   St. Louis hasn’t elected a Republican Mayor since 1949.

    El Paso has never elected a Republican mayor.

    Milwaukee hasn’t  elected a Republican Mayor in 101 years.

    Philadelphia hasn”t elected a Republican Mayor since 1952.

    Newark hasn’t elected a  Republican mayor in 102 years.

    Dare I mention New Orleans?

    Is it just coincidence, or what?  What hold is it that the Democrats seem to have on our poorest in so many places across the country?

    Much of it has to do with the perception that the Republican party is more closely associated with big business, huge corporations and the filthy rich.         There are some arguments to be made for that belief, but it is not entirely accurate.  Nor is it accurate to deduce that those top 10 cities above fully represent all American voters.

    Yet, consider the undeniable fact that minorities who are in the lower economic mix of the country vote heavily for Democrats .  The wealthy, as an economic class, most frequently vote for Republicans. Exceptions abound, of course, colored by geography, history, gender and, who knows, maybe even global warming, these days.

The numbers are interesting, to say the least.

    Do they prove that the poor will always vote for Democrats in large cities?  Do they show that elected Democratic mayors in large cities are going to produce poverty or fail to reduce it?  Perhaps we need more than 100 years of political history to make a determination.  In the meantime, maybe it is time we had a czar in Washington to investigate this phenomenon and, if true, have a mandate declared that all 10 cities listed above have special mayoral elections next year in which only Republican candidates could compete.

    Now, that’s change for you.

Lou Major Sr. was publisher of The Daily News for 34 years (1963-1997) and retired as CEO of Wick Communicaations.