Mayors offices up for grabs in many big U.S. cities

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Though New York's mayoral race has garnered most of the national attention among municipal contests this Election Day, many big cities across the country elected mayors on Tuesday.

Here's a rundown of key races:

-- In Miami, former Mayor Maurice Ferre (D) finished first in a crowded field, but a recount was underway late Tuesday night to determine whom he would face in a runoff. Initial results showed attorney Manny Diaz (D) finishing second, and incumbent Mayor Joe Carollo (R) in third place.

If those results hold up in the recount, Carollo would be ousted and a runoff would be held next Tuesday between Ferre and Diaz.

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Ferre was mayor for 12 years in the 1970s and 1980s. Diaz gained national recognition last year when he represented the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez.

-- In Minneapolis, civic activist R.T. Rybak (D), in a decisive victory, unseated incumbent Mayor Sharon Sayles Benton (D).

Rybak, a political newcomer, won 65 percent of the vote against Sayles Benton's 35 percent.

Rybak had questioned the incumbent's handling of the city's finances and called for more affordable housing. Sayles Benton (D) became the city's first black and first female mayor in 1993.

-- In Cincinnati, the Associated Press reported that incumbent Charlie Luken (D), who quit his job as WLWT anchor to run successfully for mayor in the city's last election, beat back a challenge from Courtis Fuller -- also a Democrat, and also a former anchor from the same station.

Fuller had criticized Luken's handling of the riots that broke out earlier this year when an unarmed black man was shot and killed by a white city police officer. Because of a charter change, the election marks the first time Cincinnati voters have voted directly for mayor in more than 70 years.

-- In Charlotte, incumbent Mayor Pat McCrory (R) easily beat back a challenge from former city councilwoman Ella Scarborough (D) in North Carolina's largest city, mirroring the results of the city's 1999 mayoral election. With 99 percent of the precincts counted, McCrory won 67 percent of the vote to Scarborough's 33 percent.

-- In Cleveland, with 112 of 460 precincts tabulated, county Commissioner Jane Campbell (D) had won 66 percent of the vote against Raymond Pierce (D), a former official in the U.S. Department of Education.

-- In Boston, the incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino (D) coasted to re-election in his race against city council member Peggy Davis-Mullen (D). With 249 of 254 precincts counted, Menino had 72 percent of the vote to Davis-Mullen's 23 percent.

-- In Pittsburgh, with 146 of 404 precincts counted, Mayor Tom Murphy (D) headed for victory in a race against James Carmine (R), a philosophy professor. Murphy had 75 percent of the vote to Carmine's 23 percent.

-- In Houston, incumbent Mayor Lee Brown (D) --beset by budget problems, traffic congestion and political squabbles -- faced a tough re-election bid in the city's nonpartisan election.

His top challengers were councilmen Chris Bell, (D), a former Brown supporter, and Orlando Sanchez (R), a Cuban immigrant who is hoping to become the city's first Hispanic mayor. Brown, the city's first black mayor, was federal drug czar during the Clinton administration and headed police departments in Houston, Atlanta and New York City.

-- In Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, a young state legislator and local Democratic scion, faced off against three-term council President Gil Hill, also a Democrat. Incumbent Dennis Archer did not seek a third term.

-- In Seattle, the race was between Councilman Greg Nickels and city attorney Mark Sidran, both Democrats, though Sidran had been blasted in some quarters as leaning too far to the right for many in this left-leaning city.

Incumbent Mayor Paul Schell -- reeling from the 1999 World Trade Organization riots in his city and from the loss of Boeing, a mainstay of the local economy -- was defeated in the September mayoral primary.

-- In Atlanta, ex-city administrator Shirley Franklin, council President Robb Pitts, and ex-councilwoman Gloria Bromell-Tinubu were the leading candidates in this nonpartisan race. All three were Democrats. Incumbent Mayor Bill Campbell is term-limited.