Subject:  Fieger weighs Detroit mayor bid |
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Date Posted: 09/12/08 7:40pm
Friday, September 12, 2008
Fieger weighs Detroit mayor bid
Poll floats ideas to voters in city; attorney denies sponsoring survey, but won't rule out entering field.
Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Geoffrey Fieger, the high-profile attorney and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate, is considering a run for Detroit mayor.
Fieger's name is being floated in a mayoral poll that asks Detroiters how they would feel about his candidacy, The Detroit News has learned.
Fieger's popularity in mostly black Detroit helped him win the Democratic nomination in 1998 for governor. He gained notoriety in the 1990s for representing assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian.
Fieger would not take credit on Thursday for the poll. He said he did not know who commissioned it, but he could not count out a run for the city's top job.
"I didn't say I'm not interested. I would consider it," he said.
Larry Dubin, a professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, said Fieger's notoriety could help in a mayoral race.
"He does seem to connect well," Dubin said.
"He would challenge the voters to contemplate not voting along racial lines. He has total name recognition and would probably do better than some might predict."
Dubin also said an early, private poll could be "a way of testing the waters."
The poll was conducted by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA. Pollsters contacted some Detroiters on Wednesday night, starting with questions on issues facing Detroit and various contenders who are expected to run. Then the respondents were asked about Fieger. The pollsters stated that he champions civil rights and asked if voters were aware that his father had one of America's first integrated law firms.
Then voters were asked if they are bothered by Fieger not living in Detroit and their response if he chose to rent an apartment or bought a house in the city. Voters were asked if they cared that Fieger had adopted three children, two of whom are black.
One question asked who voters preferred in a match-up between businessman and former Detroit Pistons star David Bing and Fieger.
Fieger could end up being the only white candidate in a seemingly crowded field of potentials. To him, running for mayor would be a costly financial burden that he would have to weigh.
"My belief is, do I want to put down what I love the most -- practicing the law and trying cases?" he asked. "Everybody else would be using (the mayor's job) as a stepping stone up."
Earlier this year, a jury acquitted Fieger on conspiracy and illegal campaign contributions charges related to more than $100,000 in political donations made to the 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards.
The poll comes at a time when would-be candidates are positioning themselves for a potential run as questions remain over when a special election will be held to succeed Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned and pleaded guilty to two felonies last week. The City Council has delayed ruling on the special election until next week. The only declared candidate is Council President and incoming interim Mayor Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., who takes over Sept. 19.
Other possible candidates expected to announce a decision soon include: Bing, former City Councilman the Rev. Nicholas Hood III, former Police Chief Benny Napoleon, Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, Wayne County Chief Operating Officer Bella Marshall and Kilpatrick general counsel Sharon McPhail.
Bernie Porn, the president of the polling company, confirmed that a mayoral poll is being conducted in Detroit but declined to comment on who is paying for the poll. Napoleon, who said he is close to making a decision on running for mayor, said a Fieger candidacy should be taken seriously.
Fieger, he said, brings "money, his oratory skills, and name recognition" to any campaign. "I wouldn't write Geoffrey Fieger off," he said. "Historically, we have demonstrated that we will vote for those type of candidates who support our causes."
Detroit News Staff Writers David Josar, Mark Hicks, Mike O'Hara and Oralandar Brand-Williams contributed to this report. You can reach Leonard N. Fleming at (313) 222-2072 or lfleming@detnews.com.
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