1973 Cleveland mayoral election

November 6, 1973


Nominee	Ralph Perk	Mercedes Cotner
Party	Nonpartisan	Nonpartisan
Popular vote	90,350	45,267
Percentage	66.62%	33.38%

Mayor before election

Ralph Perk
Republican

Elected mayor

Ralph Perk
Republican

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The Cleveland mayoral election of 1973 saw the reelection of Ralph Perk.

This was the first Cleveland mayoral election to use a nonpartisan system.^[1]

Primary election

Candidates

James M. Carney, businessman and 1971 Democratic Party nominee for mayor^[2]
Ralph Perk, incumbent mayor
Joseph Pirincin, 1971 Socialist Labor Party nominee for mayor^[3]
Robbie Scherr

Results

Primary election results^[4]
Candidate	Votes	%
Ralph Perk (incumbent)	56,560	54.92
James M. Carney	44,459	43.17
Robbie Scherr	1,126	1.09
Joseph Pirincin	838	0.81
Total votes	102,983	100

General election

On October 11, James M. Carney withdrew from the race, citing "personal" reasons.^[2] Carney's campaign committee selected then-City Council Clerk Mercedes R. Cotner to replace him on the ballot.^[5]

Results

Cleveland mayoral election, 1973^[6]
Candidate	Votes	%
Ralph Perk (incumbent)	90,350	66.62
Mercedes Cotner	45,267	33.38
Total votes	135,617	100

References

^ Swanstrom, Todd (1985). The Crisis of Growth Politics: Cleveland, Kucinich, and the Challenge of Urban Populism. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 273n. ISBN 9780877223665.
^ ^a ^b "CANDIDATE QUITS CLEVELAND RACE (Published 1973)". The New York Times. October 13, 1973. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
^ "11 CANDIDATES VIE IN CLEVELAND RACE (Published 1971)". The New York Times. August 22, 1971. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
^ "Cleveland Mayor - Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "CLEVELAND POLL FAVORS THE G.O.P (Published 1973)". The New York Times. November 4, 1973. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
^ "Cleveland Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 9, 2020.

(1972 ←) 1973 United States elections (→ 1974)
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