"State Representative Carl B. Stokes is all smiles, and for good reason. The Negro won the Democratic nomination for mayor of Cleveland over incumbent Ralph Locher, and emerged as a slight favorite in the general election on November 7th [1969]. Stokes also cleared his first step toward becoming the first popularly-elected Negro mayor of a major American city." --photo verso. Stokes did in fact win the general election, narrowly defeating Republican challenger Seth Taft.
