Charlotte's most competitive mayoral race in close to 20 years hinges on the city's voters getting it right in the Republican primary on Sept. 15.

We strongly recommend a vote for John Lassiter over his primary opponents, Martin Davis and Jack Stratton.

This should not be a difficult decision for voters. Lassiter's record of achievement in public life and his command of the issues facing the city far outstrip that of Davis or Stratton.

Lassiter served on the planning commission and for 11 years on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board before beginning his three terms as an at-large member of the City Council. Over that time he has proven to be a serious student of public affairs and has developed an excellent grasp of the community and its needs. He is intelligent, dedicated and hard-working. And he typically sets partisan politics aside to focus on solutions.

His concern for Charlotte is obvious, and for 20 years he has worked hard to serve it.

Davis and Stratton, by comparison, have little record to run on. Davis is known best as “The Dirty Book Guy,” from the times he would appear before county commissioners to read from public library books, making the case that the library is a taxpayer-funded “pornographic bookstore.”

He has been nothing more than a gadfly since then. He is an ideologue running on a platform of cutting taxes and spending, but he doesn't offer realistic solutions to the city's needs, and has an abrasive, ineffective style.

Stratton, meanwhile, has admitted he's running only to regain custody of his children who social workers removed in 2001. “There's nobody worth voting for,” he says. “Every politician I've seen is corrupt. I didn't even vote for myself.” If he didn't, why should we?

This is a serious time for Charlotte, and voters have two serious choices: Lassiter and Democrat Anthony Foxx. Only those two have the wherewithal to tackle the significant problems challenging this city, including economic development, crime, transportation and affordable housing.

Voters need to get Lassiter over this first little hurdle, then turn to studying him and Foxx to determine who is best equipped to lead the city forward.

Party labels aren't enough. Voters need to explore the differences in philosophy and decide who has the beliefs and the leadership style needed to most effectively attack the problems our city faces at this critical time.

First, though, there's a primary. We believe John Lassiter is the clear choice.