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By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer

The May 10 Tyler mayoral race has attracted an unmatched level of public interest.

Never before has a mayoral race brought in such huge amounts of fundraising dollars - more than $125,000 between the two candidates - and no one has ever spent as much as Laura Corbett and Barbara Bass have to win the council's top spot.

"I think one of the reasons this race has become so hotly contested is because both are good candidates," said State Sen. Kevin Eltife, a former three-term Tyler mayor.

Eltife knows about tight elections. He ran in four races during the 11 years he served on City Council, the most prominent being against current State Rep. Leo Berman for the mayor's seat in 1996. Eltife raised and spent between $40,000 and $50,000 on that race, a huge amount at the time.

Eltife said the 1996 election is comparable to the one that will be decided on Saturday. Both candidates are highly qualified for the office, as were he and Berman, Eltife said.

"Voters have two really good choices, and that can only be a good thing," he said.

Berman doesn't think the two races really are that similar.

"I had just moved here six years before, and Kevin lived here all of his life. Kevin was a successful businessman," Berman said. "There's not any comparison."

Both Ms. Corbett and Ms. Bass have lived in Tyler for decades, and both have established themselves within the community.

Ms. Bass, who works as a certified public accountant, has spent years serving as president or chairman of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce, the Tyler Economic Development Council, Hospice of East Texas, Pollard United Methodist Church, Better Business Bureau of Central East Texas and Leadership Tyler.

Ms. Corbett, a real-estate agent, has an equally long list of public involvement, not the least of which is her three terms of service on the Tyler City Council and four years on the Half-Cent Sales Tax Committee.

"We have some very strong candidates this year with excellent educations and qualities, who will carry on the good work Joey Seeber has done," said Dee Brock, president of the League of Women Voters of Tyler and Smith County.

Ms. Brock believes two factors have brought such a high level of attention to this race: A sense of community involvement in the city's decision-making process, thanks to the Tyler 21 plan, and more female involvement in the political system.

"I believe women are becoming more active in political life, and that's important," she said. "And the Tyler 21 plan has energized the city. People are pleased and hopeful that the next mayor will carry it out."

Ms. Brock said another factor is the strong similarities between Ms. Corbett and Ms. Bass. Both candidates say they plan to stay on the same path Eltife and Seeber laid out, so voters must pay even more attention to the differences between the women, she said.

"While there seems to be a lot of similarities between the candidates, there are also a lot of differences," she said. "I do think they have strong credentials and have really thought about where they stand on the issues. I think whoever becomes mayor will lead the city in the direction it should go."

Seeber said the similarities between Ms. Corbett and Ms. Bass are exactly the reason this race has drawn so much attention and brought in such high levels of fundraising.

"I think one of the reasons this race is so hotly contested is because we are at a point where it's not clear the direction the city will go," he said. "It's been at least 18 years, perhaps longer, since we've had a mayor's election where neither candidate was a sitting city council member. It's not as clear a choice, because we want to see what their visions will be for the future."

He said both candidates are claiming to want to continue the progress made under his and Eltife's tenures.

"They're in the difficult decision of wanting to advocate what's been done over the past 12 years, but they have to distinguish themselves," he said.

That costs a lot of money. Seeber said he raised $30,000 in the last mayoral election, when he faced challenger Larry Meckley, a retired school teacher who's now competing against Charles Alworth for the District 6 City Council seat.

"I was surprised that more than $100,000 has been raised in this race. I really believe it goes back to we don't have a clear choice," Seeber said. "If you want to distinguish yourself, it's going to take a lot of money to get that message out."

Ms. Corbett doesn't think that's necessarily so. She believes there are two important, clear differences between herself and Ms. Bass: namely, her experience on the council and their very different approaches to economic development.

Ms. Bass has said she would use surplus money in the city budget to boost economic development, while Ms. Corbett believes the city can bring in new businesses and jobs without using tax dollars as a monetary incentive for those companies to move to Tyler.

Ms. Corbett said that the fact Ms. Bass has out-fundraised and out-spent her campaign 2-1 doesn't make her worry about Saturday's possible outcome.

"Our target fundraising goal was $40,000. We had a budget from the get-go and I think we've spent our money very wisely," she said. "If someone has entrusted me with their money, I want to spend it as wisely as possible. That's just how you should be when you're on the city council."

Ms. Bass, who raised roughly $85,000 in the past year, said she's been humbled by the experience of running for mayor and the apparent outpouring of public support.

"I certainly went into this thinking it would not be anywhere near this intensive. I've just been totally humbled and blessed by so many people interested in my being mayor," she said.

Ms. Bass said she believes the public interest is so strong because people are excited to be involved in the city's future.

"I see their commitment to Tyler and their excitement," she said. "I repeatedly get asked, 'I'm so excited you're doing this, but why would you put yourself through this?' I believe that as a democracy, you have to be willing to step out and be willing to make this a better place."