Charlie Smithgall — Lancaster's most famous cannoneer — wants to take another shot.
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The former two-term city mayor announced this morning that he will seek a third term in City Hall.
His announcement late this morning, comes nearly four years after his re-election loss to Democrat Rick Gray.
Smithgall, a Republican, will again face Gray, who is seeking a second term.
"I decided to come out and consider running because of my love of Lancaster City," said the 63-year-old Smithgall, standing outside 549 W. Lemon St., the house in which he was born and reared.
"Twelve years ago I loved Lancaster enough to stick my neck out and run for mayor and I won, and in the eight years I was mayor, I think we accomplished an awful lot."
Smithgall's announcement comes about a month after the primary in which he received more than the 100 write-in votes necessary to place his name on the fall general election ballot.
Smithgall said he did not organize the write-in campaign and is responding to supporters who have encouraged him to run.
"Believe me, I did not seek nor did I ask for the endorsement of the Republican Party as mayor. This event that we're here for today is because of the hard work of some individuals who felt that Lancaster needed a choice," Smithgall emphasized.
"There are politicians — even within the Republican Party — who did not want me to run and there are pundits out there that believe the numbers just don't add up and I have no chance to win. But this decision is not about the politicians or the pundits, it's about the people," he said.
Smithgall, a pharmacist with probably the world's largest collection of Civil War-era cannons, faces an uphill battle.
Democrats hold a 13,000-voter registration edge in the city over Republicans. And Gray has not experienced scandal or significant controversy during the past four years that would make him vulnerable to a re-election challenge.
Gray said this morning that the challenge from Smithgall will not change how he approaches his re-election bid.
"We have set out a campaign strategy. We have solicited funds and we have gotten a very favorable response. We have gone door-to-door. My schedule is set through October," Gray said this morning.
Gray said he will continue going door-to-door, to meet city residents and solicit their ideas for making the city better.
"We're running a campaign, so if former Mayor Smithgall is running, we're still running the same campaign," Gray said.
While saying that he would not run a negative campaign, Smithgall did talk about the current situation of the city.
"I believe we need to make our city safer again. We need to make our streets cleaner again. And, I think we need to make City Hall more accessible and accountable," he said.
Smithgall said he would be running a grassroots campaign — much as he first did 12 years ago — when he knocked on doors all across the city.
"House-to-house, street-to-street, person-to-person. This will be a people campaign," Smithgall said of his effort until November.
Staff writer Bernard Harris can be reached at bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022.
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