Of all the people Courtis Fuller has met during his bid for Cincinnati mayor, few have inspired him more than Jessie Chapman.

        Mr. Fuller talked with Mrs. Chapman, an African-American resident of the Winton Terrace public housing complex in Winton Hills, Saturday afternoon as he walked the neighborhood under a bright autumn sky made for campaigning.

        “She's 48 years old and has never voted,” said Mr. Fuller, his signature smile beaming as he walked from her door. “But she's voting Tuesday and she's voting for me.”

Challenger Courtis Fuller talks with Sharon A. Armstrong (center) during a campaign stop in Northside on Saturday. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        “It's not all that important to me that he's black,” Mrs. Chapman said. "What's important to me is that I think he's going to be different. He's going to care more about the people. All the people.”

        Mr. Fuller's hope of knocking off incumbent Mayor Charlie Luken rests with voters such as Mrs. Chapman, those who want a change in leadership. Mr. Fuller's lot will be cast by people who may not have always voted in the past but are looking for something different from the status quo offered by a veteran politician such as Mr. Luken.

        “Somebody like (Mrs. Chapman), who is voting because of me and because of what I have to offer,” Mr. Fuller said. “That is very powerful. That is what change is all about.”

        Mr. Fuller, a former Channel 5 anchorman running as a Charterite, used the final Saturday before Tuesday's election to campaign in neighborhoods, attend a rally and meet as many voters as he could.

        Lacking the campaign money, exposure and name recognition of his opponent, Mr. Fuller portrays himself as a true “grass-roots candidate, getting to the people so they can meet me and hear my message that it's time for a change in leadership down at City Hall.”

        Earlier, at a morning gathering in a Walnut Hills union hall, Mr. Fuller was buoyed by the 35 or so members of the Service Employees Internation Union — some from as far away as Cleveland — who turned out to campaign for him.

        After a quick breakfast of coffee and doughnuts, union members loaded up with campaign literature to deliver to homes in Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights, two Cincinnati neighborhoods Mr. Fuller carried in winning the Sept. 11 primary over Mr. Luken by 16 points.

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        “This campaign has been a walk of faith for me,” he said in the crowded union hall, “and I appreciate you coming here today to walk for me.”

        As the campaign workers headed out, Mr. Fuller climbed into a sport-utility vehicle with members of his campaign team and drove to Winton Terrace for a community forum featuring candidates for city office.

        Mr. Luken wasn't there, but several City Council candidates appeared at the sparsely attended event. Politicians outnumbered the audience.

        Mr. Fuller had far better luck meeting voters as he walked the neighborhood.

        Drivers beeped their horns and teen-agers approached him to shake his hand and give him a hug. A man in a wheelchair leaned forward to shake Mr. Fuller's hand.

        As the candidate walked up to one door, he stopped to pick up trash — a beer bottle, a potato chip bag, an empty White Castle hamburger container — that was strewn throughout the neighborhood.

        “Courtis Fuller!” a woman screamed from behind a screen door. “Come in here and meet me as soon as I put my teeth in.”

        Mr. Fuller chuckled before opening the door. “Well, put your teeth in because I'm comin' in.”

        Down Winneste Avenue, Mr. Fuller stopped at the neighborhood's community room, where he was greeted by a gleeful Walter Smith.

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        “Courtis Fuller, my man,” Mr. Smith, 78, said as Mr. Fuller walked in. “Hey everybody, the next mayor is here.”

        As Mr. Fuller talked to people doing their laundry in the back room, Mr. Smith said people in the mostly African-American neighborhood are excited about his candidacy.

        “They think he'll pay attention to them and their problems, because nobody else sure as heck is,” Mr. Smith said.

        By midafternoon Mr. Fuller, after a quick haircut at Calloway's in the West End, headed to Northside for a campaign rally, where two dozen supporters waved “Fuller for Mayor” signs at cars humming past on Hamilton Avenue.

        An hour into the event, about 100 Fuller backers, most clad in yellow and black Fuller T-shirts, milled around a parking lot. Among them was Republican Ron Reblando, 35, a third-year medical student at the University of Cincinnati who lives in Mount Auburn.

        Mr. Reblando said he could not understand why Mr. Luken criticized Mr. Fuller for walking in Over-the-Rhine after Cincinnati police Officer Stephen Roach was acquitted of charges in the death of Timothy Thomas. It was Officer Roach's shooting of Mr. Thomas that sparked April's riots in and around downtown Cincinnati. Fearing more unrest after the acquittal, Mr. Luken imposed a citywide curfew.

        “Courtis is more in tune with the people, more in tune with the community,” Mr. Reblando said. “I think something that really shows how Mayor Luken is out of touch is he criticizes Courtis Fuller for marching with the people. That shows to me we need a change.”

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