Mark Mallory is not Courtis Fuller

State Sen. Mark Mallory campaigned today at a gas station in the West End, where he shook the hands of voters like Larry Richardson.

Larry Richardson was halfway in the door to the Sunoco station at Eighth and Linn streets this afternoon when he saw a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. He turned to state Sen. Mark Mallory and threw up his arms.

"Courtis Fuller!" he yelled.

Maybe he sensed the look of disappointment on Mallory's face, but Richardson recovered even before Mallory could correct him. "No, wait -- Mark Mallory!"

Fuller, of course, was Mayor Charlie Luken's Charterite opponent in 2001. And Mallory has tried hard to avoid becoming the Fuller of 2005. From the beginning, Mallory said that he would have to break through the typical pattern of Cincinnati racial-block voting to win votes in all parts of the city.

As he campaigned from Madisonville to Clifton Heights to the West End today, Mallory said he's confident he's done that.

"Everywhere we've been, we've gotten a good reception from people -- young, old, East Side, West Side, black, white, Democrat, Republican," he said. "People are really excited about the possibility of there being new leadership in the city. That's what I'm sensing -- that people see hope in this city."

Fuller had a similar message in 2001. Like Mallory, he was vastly outspent in challenging City Hall insiders, and was targeted in attack ads for associating himself with extreme voices in the African-American community.

But the differences outweigh the similarities.

Fuller got into the race just before the filing deadline, and by this point in 2001 had shaken up his campaign staff once or twice, had been outspent 5-to-1 and had not yet aired his one and only television commercial, an unconventional two-minute ad that ran on WCPO between "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Monday Night Football." He also limited his appearances and television debates.

Mallory, the first candidate to declare, has been outspent only 3-to-1 (a margin he's overcome before), has debated opponent David Pepper 15 times and has a respectable television presence.

Richardson's gaffe aside, Mallory also has the benefit of a better political name with deep Cincinnati roots -- a name he inherited from his father, former Ohio House Majority Leader William L. Mallory Sr.

"I've known his father since I was in the fourth grade," said Richardson, 56, who grew up in the West End but who now lives in Clifton. "He's a sharp man -- from a good family."