Carl Stokes Won Cleveland With 50.4% in 1967, Becoming First Black Mayor of Major U.S. City
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 7
Carl Stokes Won Cleveland With 50.4% in 1967, Becoming First Black Mayor of Major U.S. City
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 7
Summary
50.4% of Cleveland voters backed Carl B. Stokes on Nov. 7, 1967, narrowly defeating Republican Seth Taft and making Stokes the first Black mayor elected in a major U.S. city.
The victory came despite open racial tension in the campaign: Stokes told a hostile white audience that analysts favored Taft because “his skin happens to be white,” a remark then labeled a political blunder.
Election analysts later said 80% of white Democrats in Cleveland broke for Taft, underscoring how heavily Stokes had to rely on Black voters and crossover support to win.
As mayor, Stokes pushed hiring of Black people and women, neighborhood revitalization and anti-pollution efforts; after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, he also helped keep Cleveland calmer than many other cities.
Stokes’s breakthrough helped mark a broader political shift: King hailed his win, along with victories in Gary and Boston, and Black mayors now lead more than 640 U.S. municipalities.