NEWS & OPINION :: May 11, 2005

Lansing mayoral contest has a whole new look

Endorsements on hold as Martinez shakes up race

By THOMAS P. MORGAN

The mayor’s race just started a lot earlier than expected.

Up until last week, state Sen. Virg Bernero and Mayor Tony Benavides were expected to cruise through the non-partisan August primary, from which the top two vote-getters advance to November’s general election.

Enter Lynne Martinez.

Martinez, a former state representative, walked into City Hall late Tuesday morning to file paperwork making her candidacy for mayor official.

She has not had any press conferences to announce her run for mayor. There have been no elaborate rallies. But Martinez, 56, has turned a whisper into a bang.

Martinez, a Democrat, is the director of the Michigan Office of Children’s Ombudsman. She represented Lansing in the state House from 1994 through 2000, and previously served on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners for nine years. She also serves on the board of Lansing’s ACLU chapter.

If elected, Martinez would be Lansing’s first female mayor.

With Jennifer Granholm as governor and Debbie Stabenow representing Michigan in the U.S. Senate, Lansing could be ready to have a woman in charge, said Lansing City Council President Sandy Allen.

“We’ve never had a female mayor,” Allen said, “and I think that this has certainly been the year of the woman.”

“It’s a good opportunity to have more than Tony or Virg,” Allen added. “I think the time might be right for a woman.”

Allen said she has not decided if she will support Martinez, however.

Martinez’s candidacy comes out of left field. For months, names have circled around town as possible candidates, including Bernero, Benavides, state Rep. Michael Murphy and City Council members Joan Bauer, Carol Wood and Brian Jeffries.

Murphy backed out three weeks ago. Bauer and Wood flirted with the idea around the turn of the year, but ultimately decided against it. Jeffries says he’s concentrating on winning re-election to the Council.

Martinez’s name was barely even a blip on the rumor radar.

Martinez said Murphy’s decision not to run "clearly" played a major role in her decision.

"It looked like a diverse and good field of candidates," Martinez said, "and then it just got narrow."

Murphy told the Lansing State Journal on April 21 that he would likely support Benavides this year. Now, that open-ended endorsement might be up in the air. Speculation swirled around City Hall that Martinez might have Murphy’s support, since she decided to run after he took his name out of consideration.

When asked if she expects Murphy’s support, Martinez said, "I’m not going there."

Martinez also declined to comment when asked if she would have supported Murphy if he were to have run.

However, Murphy deflated those rumors Tuesday, saying Martinez’s entry into the race doesn’t change anything; he is still leaning toward supporting Benavides.

With Martinez’s late entry into the mayor’s race, other endorsements could also be up for grabs in what was projected by most to be a two-person race.

Michigan Equality, a gay rights organization, gave strong support to Bernero when he ran for mayor two years ago. Now, the organization is reevaluating whether to get involved in this year’s election, said Michigan Equality Executive Director Chris Swope (himself a candidate for Lansing city clerk).

Swope said Michigan Equality will not endorse any candidate in the primary, instead waiting until after August to decide on whom, if anyone, to endorse.

However, Swope pointed out that Martinez has a very positive record on LGBT issues. In 1998, Martinez introduced a bill to the state House that would list sexual orientation as a protected class under Michigan’s hate crimes law.

Meanwhile, many of Benavides’ supporters also appear to be taking a step back.

In 2003, Benavides was endorsed by a group of 18 black pastors in Lansing. Today, that support could be in question.

The Rev. Columbus Clayton, pastor of New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, said a group of local pastors he represents got together and decided not to endorse anyone for the primary election.

"We’re just going to wait until after the primary, and then we’re going to get behind one of the winners of the primary," Clayton said.

Clayton said the pastors plan to hold candidate forums and open up their churches for the candidates to come and speak.

Some observers said they expect Martinez to cut into Benavides’ overwhelming Hispanic and Chicano support -- but that is probably because they assume Martinez is Hispanic, which she isn’t. Martinez is the name of a name of a former husband, she said.

"I’ve always been straight with the community that Martinez is a married name," she added.

Others said that in a small city like Lansing, members of the Hispanic community are likely to be aware she is not Hispanic.

Benavides has lost support, though, from at least three members of the City Council, including Wood, who supported him in 2003.

Wood said Benavides lost her support toward the end of 2003, when she was finishing her term as Council president.

She said she likes Benavides as a person and as a colleague, "But I cannot support him for mayor of Lansing." She said the administration’s “abysmal” handling of city finances does “not demonstrate leadership.”

Wood said she has not decided whom, if anyone, she will support for mayor this year. She said she wants to talk to Martinez and listen to her ideas before pledging any kind of support for Martinez or Bernero.

Benavides may have also lost support from Bauer. As late as December, Bauer said she would not run for mayor if Benavides decided to run, saying she supported Benavides.

Tuesday, Bauer was backpedaling. “At this point I’m remaining neutral,” she said.

When asked why she has backed off her support for Benavides, Bauer said the ongoing budget talks have highlighted the challenges that face the city.

“It’s a different environment than it was six months ago,” Bauer said.

Allen can also be counted among those who have supported Benavides in the past but aren’t sure anymore.

“I’ve been a little surprised that Tony hasn’t shown the leadership that we expected,” Allen said.

Despite her criticism of Benavides, Allen said she hasn’t yet decided which candidate to support.

Another possible defector is former Ingham County Commissioner Paul Pratt, who also openly endorsed and worked for Benavides two years ago.

When asked Tuesday if he would again support Benavides, Pratt said, “I’m not going to talk about that,” and declined to comment further.

Perhaps the biggest endorsement a mayoral candidate could hope for is that of former Lansing Mayor David Hollister.

In 2003, Hollister supported Benavides but did not actively campaign for him. “It would be hard to do a lot of damage in two years,” Hollister told the Lansing State Journal in July 2003.

However, insiders say Martinez and Hollister have a good relationship. In 1994, Martinez replaced Hollister in the state House when he left to become mayor. In 2001, Hollister named Martinez as executive director of the Capital Area Youth Alliance. When Hollister was appointed by Granholm in January 2003 to head the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth, Martinez wasn’t far behind. Two months later, Martinez was appointed by Granholm as the state’s children’s ombudsman.

Hollister’s support remains important in the mayoral race. In his campaign announcement speech, Bernero mentioned Hollister’s name several times. Bernero also wrote an article in the Lansing City Community News containing excerpts from an earlier interview Bernero did with Hollister on his public access TV show, “On the Virg.”

Every week, the same interview has been replayed on Bernero’s show.

Hollister was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

With Martinez taking the race by storm, the possibility suddenly exists that Benavides could be a lame duck mayor after August.

Benavides said he’s not worried.

“I really don’t think it’s going to make a difference,” Benavides said of Martinez’s decision to run. “I don’t think it’s going to affect me at all, but it doesn’t mean that I would sit by and let it happen.”

Benavides said it is good to have more competition: “Automatically, when you have a candidate come in, they’re guaranteed X number of votes from family and friends and so forth. But I’m not sure that’s going to make a difference in terms of pulling up to a level of first place or second place.”

“I’m ready to challenge either one that would come in,” Benavides said. “Basically it won’t make much of a difference.”

Bernero said he was surprised by Martinez’s decision to run but added he welcomes the challenge. He said he isn’t necessarily running against Martinez and Benavides but rather is running on his own merits.

Martinez said if elected mayor she would focus on “jumpstarting” the local economy.

“What I’m hearing everywhere is that people believe Lansing needs change,” Martinez said. “We need hope, we need growth and we need opportunity.”

As mayor, Martinez said she would develop a cooperative relationship with the City Council, especially during budget discussions. She said Benavides’ handling of the budget has been “pretty unacceptable.”

She would also create a labor and business ombudsman to help facilitate a better relationship between the city and the unions.

Martinez said she’s confident that her campaign will be competitive.

“I think our strengths and weaknesses will unfold over the time of this election,” she said of the candidates. “People will judge for themselves what they think about our backgrounds and experience.”

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