by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Despite having what he calls “good friends to great friends” in the race to succeed him, Mayor John Delaney still refuses to endorse any of the seven candidates for mayor. And may not.
“I have no plans to endorse somebody,” said Delaney.
Over the past several months, speculation has raged regarding who Delaney would support. Long before he got in the race, many thought Sheriff Nat Glover, a long time political ally and friend, would get the nod from Delaney. In late December, Delaney did say he’d back General Counsel Rick Mullaney — if he chose to run. After a quick bit of soul-searching, Mullaney chose family over politics and Delaney’s endorsement became a free agent, of sorts. Even with four Republicans in the race, Delaney won’t even commit to his party as a whole.
Delaney says he doesn’t think endorsing anyone in particular would help or hurt any of the candidates.
“I have never seen that an endorsement matters that much, even with an 80-something in the polls,” said Delaney of his voter approval rating. “People are going to go with who they think is right. Unlike the old days when Mayor [Jake] Godbold and Mayor [Tommy] Hazouri had their supporters and they backed only them, my supporters are split among all the candidates.”
At this point, the campaigning has been relatively passive. There’s been a bit of sniping here and there, but no mudslinging. Delaney says he’s sure that will change over the next six weeks when good people start saying bad things about, and to, good people.
“That’s the way campaigns go,” he said. “Tommy put my head in a balloon ad and bounced it back and forth and Jake called me a bigot and we’re friends now. For a while you hate them and then you realize you said bad things about them, too. That’s the nature of campaigns and that’s what gives you those contrasts. They are saying nice things about me, so I’m happy.”
That may not last until the April 15 primary, though.
“I fully expect it,” said Delaney of some or all of the candidates eventually nit-picking his administration and policies. “In fact, I said to the candidates, ‘I know you’re going to have to draw contrasts.’ Unless it gets personal, like on the fire chief — which I felt it really did — I’m going to do my best to be a statesman.”
What has caught Delaney by surprise — and what may ultimately cause a great deal of consternation for voters — is the number of viable candidates in the race. He firmly believes each has the credibility and ability to run the city.
“I tried to go back,” said Delaney, “probably the closest [to this year] would have been Hazouri’s race [in 1987] when you had Hazouri, John Lewis, Doug Milne and Henry Cook. But I can’t think of any other race from the 1960s, on. Most have two, maybe three legitimate candidates.”
Although there seems to be an almost endless slate of mayoral forums scheduled over the next several weeks, Delaney said he doesn’t sense the urgency and atmosphere of a mayoral race yet.
“Maybe it’s because it’s been since 1995, but I felt like that was tooth and nail every day,” said Delaney. “I don’t really sense that yet. I don’t sense the community is engaged in the race yet. I may not be looking at it right.”