Since 1957, city directors were elected at-large. The system diffused voting power and left black and low-income neighborhoods at a disadvantage. In 1992, voters turned down a ballot measure that would have allowed city board candidates to run for seats from the wards where they lived. But a short time later another such effort succeeded. Now, residents from seven city wards may run for seven positions.
Voters also elect directors to three at-large positions.
The office of mayor is also an at-large position. A candidate might appear on the ballot as a Democrat and appear again on the same ballot as a New Party candidate. A U.S. Supreme Court decision blocked the practice. But that hasn't stopped candidates from the two main parties from identifying more or less unofficially with the New Party. Both Massey and state Rep. Jim Lendall, for example, ran on the Democratic Party ticket, but received a public endorsement from the New Party.