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Gloria Tinubu
The mayor candidate back in 2001(?) you're thinking of is Gloria Tinubu. I went to school with her children, Femi and Titilayo and so was a supporter but couldn't vote at the time. Along with the local attention to the Nader/Laduke campaign it seemed like a bright time for independent politics in the state. Unfortunately, as you note, it basically withered on the vine. I think this is due to a combination of machine politics and third party efforts focusing on the most bureaucratic tasks of party-building - rather than trying to organize a social base, many have focused on precincts, etc etc - looking at people as voters within the rigged electoral system rather than as people, workers, neighborhoods, communities with political interests that must be expressed through social movements.
It's staggering to think that a Black candidate won with only 700 votes in an election that was split on racial lines. But then you "zoom out" and realize that the demographics of the city have utterly changed in the past 10-15 years - due to the policies of previous (middle-class, pro-"business") Black administrations. Especially the destruction of public housing, which I wrote about here.
With these conditions, it's a tough road to rebuild the strength of communities that could put forward a political alternative to the long line of sellouts in city government - and also make bridges to rural, working class Black, white and latino communities...