JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Yesterday’s primary election has set the stage for showdowns in two key City Council races between challengers backed by special interests and incumbents who have shown that their goals coincide with the city’s best interests.

Here are the two races that, over the next two months, will be getting the most attention from people who follow Kansas City politics.

District 4 At-Large: Incumbent Jim Glover, a four-term veteran, will be trying to hold off challenger Katheryn Shields, a former City Council member and former Jackson County executive. This race will be voted on citywide.

District 1: Unless something changes (more about that in a minute). incumbent Dick Davis, former c.e.o. at the Area Transportation Authority, will battle it out with Heather Hall, a newcomer who is associated with the Tea Party. Even though this is an in-district race and will be voted on only in Clay County, it could be pivotal to Kansas City’s immediate future.

Here’s a closer look at the two races.

Jim Glover-Katheryn Shields

Glover

Glover defeated Shields by fewer than 500 votes (12,913 to 12,451) in Tuesday’s primary, with two other candidates finishing far back. Glover and Shields will go head to head in the June 23 general election.

Glover is going for a fifth council term. The City Charter limits office holders to two consecutive terms, but with a break of at least four years between each two-term stint, a candidate can run as many times as he or she chooses.

Glover first served on the council from 1991 to 1999. He ran for mayor in 1999, the year Kay Barnes was elected to her first term. Glover then was elected to the council in 2003, and in 2007 he again ran unsuccessfully for mayor. (Mark Funkhouser was the winner.) In 2011, Glover was once again elected to the council.

Shields

Shields was on the council from 1987 to 1995, when she was elected Jackson County executive. She served three terms as county executive, leaving office at the end of 2006.

Glover’s foremost achievement was helping bring Costco, Home Depot and Marsh’s Sun Fresh to Midtown in the late 1990s. As architect of “The Glover Plan,” he pushed relentlessly to fill Midtown’s retail black hole, and area residents have reaped the benefits ever since.

Glover is a strong advocate for neighborhood improvements, and he is an adversary of Firefighters’ Local 42, which continuously agitates for bigger Fire Department budgets, more union firefighting jobs and a broader fire union sphere of influence. Local 42 is supporting Shields.

As City Hall reporter for The Star from 1985 to 1995, I covered both Shields and Glover. I did volunteer work for Glover and contributed financially to him when he ran for mayor in 2007. I also contributed to his council campaign four years ago.

I have not volunteered for Shields in any of her campaigns and to the best of my recollection have not contributed to her financially.

My biggest concerns about Shields are her allegiance to Local 42 and her motives for wanting to return to office. My guess is that she misses the spotlight and the “action” and simply wants back in. Glover is not without ego, either — like I said, he’s run for mayor twice — but I think he has a better vision of what it takes to keep the city moving forward. From me, he gets the nod on “the trust factor.”

Heather Hall-Dick Davis

Hall

Hall defeated Davis yesterday by a vote of 1,380 to 1,267. Davis narrowly edged former Local 42 president Louie Wright and will advance to the June 23 general election. According to final, unofficial results, Davis had 1,267 votes to 1,235 votes for Wright.

The Clay County Board of Election commissioners will certify the result on Friday. Wright would then have five days to get a court order, if he wanted a recount. (Getting such an order would not be difficult.)

I put in a call to Wright at a restaurant he owns in North Kansas City — Johnny’s Back Yard — but had not heard back from him before publishing this post.

Tuesday’s three-way contest poses an interesting dynamic for the general election. Davis has the support of the Citizens Association, an organization that has long fought for progressive city government. Hall will have the backing of the Tea Party and the Fraternal Order of Police, of which her husband is a member.

Wright

If Wright does not seek a recount (or if he does and again falls short), he will likely swing Local 42’s backing to Hall. That would be significant and would make Hall the favorite to win the general election, although it’s possible that a larger general-election turnout would give Davis a boost.

Besides the union scenario, also working against Davis are his age — 78 — and the fact that he is not an avid campaigner. Bob Mayer, a developer who is an adviser to Davis, put it very candidly when I spoke with him today.

Davis

“He (Davis) and his supporters are going to have to step it up to win that race,” Mayer said.

Mayer interrupted our chat — understandably — to take a call from Davis. Later, Mayer sent me an email saying, of Davis, “He is very realistic and understands what he needs to do.”

I covered Dick Davis a bit when he was at the ATA and have always liked and admired him. I have contributed to his re-election campaign. I don’t know Hall but am concerned about her Tea Party and union connections…For me, Davis is the clear choice. I hope he campaigns hard and is able to raise enough money to get his message to Clay County voters and convince them he’s the clear choice.