In a runoff election for the mayor’s office in San Bernardino County’s seat of government and largest city, voters yesterday overwhelmingly chose Superior Court Judge Pat Morris, a Democrat, to replace Democrat Mayor Judith Valles, who opted not to stand for a third term, to lead the troubled City of San Bernardino for the next four years.  Morris (pictured left) beat his opponent, elected City Attorney Jim Penman, an Independent, by a 63- to 37-percent margin in an election that saw only 21 percent of voters casting ballots.

Mayor-elect Morris will inherit the mayor’s office as the City of San Bernardino continues to grapple with a crime rate that far exceeds those of surrounding communities.  During the weekend of February 4-5, violence claimed three lives in a six-hour period.  Morris topped the five-candidate field November 8 in the first round of balloting with 43.7 percent of the vote in the non-partisan contest.  Runner-up City Attorney Penman claimed 27 percent.  Councilman Chas Kelley, though he had strong backing from the Republican Party, came in third with 15 percent.  Read more about Republican Kelley’s effort here.

Morris was backed by a broad ideological cross-section of supporters, including  Democrat Congressman Joe Baca, Assemblymember Joe Baca Jr., former Assemblymember John Longville, the Democrat Party, Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis, Bill Leonard Sr. (father of BOE Member Bill Leonard), and many establishment business interests.

From the beginning, the mayor’s race, in a city with Republican registration at only 36 percent, was dominated by the issue of crime.  Both candidates issued detailed policy papers on how to best fight criminal activity and each jockeyed for position as the "real" crime fighter.  Morris appealed to voters with his "Project Phoenix" proposal and background as a judge, while Penman stressed his endorsements from public safety associations and his support from former Police Chief Lee Dean.

O’Reilly Public Relations handled the Morris campaign while Floyd and Lucsko managed the Penman effort.  Morris conducted an extensive absentee ballot drill, which resulted in a 62 percent showing even before the first precinct reported.  Morris bested Penman in fundraising, having collected more than $412,000 prior to the late-reporting period while Penman had raised about $246,000.  

In his victory speech at his headquarters, which was jammed with roughly 150 cheering supporters, Morris pledged to begin work immediately to reduce the skyrocketing crime rate and rid the city of gangs, drugs, and other societal ills.  Penman, who will remain city attorney, made a surprise visit to Morris’ party and congratulated Morris on a well-run campaign, promising to support the former judge in his efforts to turn San Bernardino around as mayor.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.