Election map: City Council At-Large race
The City Council At-Large race is an election in which the winners are the top two vote earners whose totals are more than 25 percent. Current At-Large Council Member Arnie Fielkow easily took first place. At-Large Council Member Jackie Clarkson edged out District E Council Member Cynthia Willard-Lewis for the second At-Large seat by just 1,542 votes.
It may not be evident how Clarkson carved out a victory when she won few precincts outright compared to her competitors. Clarkson’s primary challenger for the second at-large seat, Willard-Lewis, enjoyed victories in majority African-American precincts across the city. Willard-Lewis’ crossover appeal in majority white precincts, however, was very low. It was in those majority white precincts that Clarkson earned almost as much support as Arnie Fielkow. What isn’t apparent from a map showing the winner in each precinct, is that Clarkson’s support was very strong in white precincts, and was sufficiently strong in black precincts to add up to a win. In fact, in many places, such as Algiers, Clarkson’s support in black precincts resembled the crossover appeal enjoyed by Fielkow, only with slightly smaller numbers. In most African-American precincts, however, Clarkson’s support was not nearly as strong as was the support for Willard-Lewis.
Of particular interest in the at-large race was the consistent support for African-American reform candidate Nolan Marshall. Without respect to the demographic composition of precincts, Marshall enjoyed about the same sliver of support in precincts across the city. This might suggest that Marshall’s participation in the at-large election split both white and black votes, taking an equal bite out of both Clarkson’s and Willard-Lewis’ potential supporters.
In the final analysis, Willard-Lewis didn’t do enough to prove to all voters that she should be their representative in the second at-large seat, and Clarkson has much more to do to make up for a deficit of support among African-American voters.
