Published: Saturday, June 9, 2007
Gillespie withdraws, cites race issue
The political newcomer was surprised by blacks urging him to withdraw.
YOUNGSTOWN — A Youngstown 6th Ward council candidate withdrew from the race saying he was pressured to do so by those concerned the black vote would be split if he didn't quit.
"I have a reputation and substantial business relationships that could be damaged by this," said Presley Gillespie, a Key Bank vice president who quit the race Friday. "... It got to the point where it was causing relationship and reputation damage."
Gillespie, who is black, was an independent candidate in the 6th Ward and was to face Janet Tarpley, who also is black and is the winner of the Democratic primary, as well as Maggy Lorenzi, who is white.
Gillespie said he was told by fellow blacks that having both he and Tarpley in the race would split the black vote and allow Lorenzi to win the election. He declined to say who was pressuring him, but said it wasn't Tarpley.
"I wasn't looking at" the election as a black-white issue, Gillespie said. "I wanted to get votes from both sides of the aisle. But some people felt [it would] be detrimental for me to be a candidate without knowing my values and attributes."
Surprised
Having never run for political office, Gillespie said he was surprised by the pressure he received to get out of the race and decided staying in was no longer worth his effort.
When asked if racial politics was a sad indictment on the city, Gillespie said, "Yes, it's sad. It was a real eye-opener."
Had Tarpley not defeated Councilman Paul Pancoe, who is white, in the Democratic primary, Gillespie said he probably wouldn't have been asked to quit the race.
"The dynamics would have been different," he said. "I learned a lot about the political process."
Even if Gillespie didn't withdraw, there was a decent chance his candidacy would have been disqualified.
A recent secretary of state advisory opinion states a candidate voting in a party primary election after filing as an independent can no longer claim to be an independent candidate. Gillespie and Lorenzi voted in the May 8 Democratic primary after filing as independents.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections will meet Thursday to determine the eligibility of independent candidates who voted in the primary.
Lorenzi's response
Lorenzi said a person's skin color has no business being a campaign issue.
"It's a shame," she said. "Part of the problem in this community is that the 'race card' is pulled. In this case, a good black candidate has pulled out. What does that say about the community?"
Youngstown will never move forward until the racial divide is eliminated, Lorenzi said.
Tarpley said she is disappointed that Gillespie withdrew after being pressured to do so by fellow blacks.
"I'm running to do a good job for everybody," she said. "... I think I'm a good candidate, and I wouldn't want that to happen [to me]. We need to come together and work together."
Tarpley said no one talked to her about two black candidates in the race splitting the vote that would allow Lorenzi to win the council seat.
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