Former city councilwoman beats insurance executive in runoff for Dallas mayor

DALLAS (AP) _ Former city councilwoman Laura Miller easily won the hotly contested race for mayor of the nation's ninth largest city Saturday night. <br><br>With all precincts reporting, Miller had

Sunday, February 17th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ Former city councilwoman Laura Miller easily won the hotly contested race for mayor of the nation's ninth largest city Saturday night.

With all precincts reporting, Miller had 55 percent of the ballots, with 72,974 votes. Tom Dunning, a favorite of the business community, received 60,025 votes, or 45 percent of the 132,999 total ballots cast.

At her victory party, Miller, 43, reiterated her grass-roots focus.

``I truly think the citizens want City Hall to focus on them and their neighborhoods and their families,'' she said.

Dunning ended the heated campaign _ which was marked by allegations of endorsement-buying and ballot-tampering _ with a call of congratulations and an offer to help in any way he could.

``Let's celebrate with the new mayor, and let's not talk about anything else,'' Dunning said. ``We ran a good hard fight, and we lost.''

Since the five-way Jan. 19 primary, both Miller and Dunning have been accused of offering to buy the endorsement of one of their former rivals, state Rep. Domingo Garcia, by paying off his campaign debt. Garcia finished third in last month's balloting and endorsed Dunning. The district attorney in neighboring Fort Worth has been called in to investigate.

Miller's campaign also has questioned whether Dunning's political operatives tampered with mail-in ballots from homebound senior citizens. On Wednesday, Dunning fired an operative who ran a mail-in ballot effort, saying: ``We will not engage in any practices that might appear questionable, even if they are legal.''

Miller, who raised about $1.6 million, was a columnist critical of city government before entering politics on a pledge of filling potholes and cleaning up neighborhoods.

She was confident she could unify the city council despite the fact she was endorsed by just one member.

``I served with all these people for 3 1/2 years,'' she said. ``This is not anything I have to learn or worry about. Everyone's ready to work.''

Former mayor Ron Kirk resigned in November to seek the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Phil Gramm. Miller will serve the rest of Kirk's term, which runs through May 2003. She also has said she would seek re-election when her term ends.

Dunning, 59, was a favorite of the business community and said he would be a better consensus builder.

He also spoke about improving basic services, saying he would not be ``out-potholed.'' But he said the city must also have a larger vision, including revitalizing downtown and attracting new businesses.