He was elected to four-year terms in 1993, 1997, and 2005; he lost in 1981 (to Douglas DeGood), 1987 (to Donna Owens), 2015 (to Paula Hicks-Hudson), and 2021 (to Wade Kapszukiewicz).

[1] He joined the ABC affiliate in Toledo and hosted Carty & Company, a Sunday morning public affairs show.

Kapszukiewicz overwhelmingly won a second term by defeating Finkbeiner and winning by a record margin in Toledo history with 68.9 percent of the vote.

He attended Trinity College in Connecticut, where he lettered in football, baseball, and basketball until a head injury ended his athletic career; he transferred to Denison University in Granville, Ohio and received a bachelor's degree in 1962.

[14] He ran against Ashley again in 1976, but the incumbent hit back by criticizing Finkbeiner's unsteady work history and won by 10 percentage points.

[10] Finkbeiner had, in effect, been running for the seat since 1968, when — while debating whether to enter the Virginia Theological Seminary — he decided to seek the office.

Finkbeiner's skimpy employment record was again an issue, with Owens noting his tax returns reported his only income the previous year had been his $7,800 in city council salary.

The Associated Press reported that the two "seem to have a genuine dislike for each other"; his old foe Lud Ashley fronted a group named Democrats for Donna.

"[26] He also helped found and became executive administrator of an anti-drug group named Crackdown Inc.[27] Finkbeiner announced another run for mayor against Owens in 1989, but he later withdrew after the Lucas County Democratic Party endorsed John McHugh.

Finkbeiner has been called an urban populist — a title he wears like a badge of honor — for his fight to get the city to spend more money in neighborhoods rather than on downtown riverfront projects.

He worked on issues that could increase his popularity among more conservative voters, proposing a citywide curfew for teenagers and sponsoring a "Buy American" bill for city purchases.

[33][34] Council rejected the curfew, but Finkbeiner and future mayor Jack Ford led a signature drive to put the issue before voters, who approved it.

Toledo voters had rejected strong-mayor proposals six times in the previous 55 years, most recently in 1988, when sitting mayor Owens opposed it.

The candidates in 1993 included three members of Toledo city council: Finkbeiner, Democrat Peter Silverman, and independent Mike Ferner.

[38] Also running were Republican Paula Pennypacker, a former radio talk show host who had lost to McHugh in 1991, and Bill Boyle, a former Lucas County Democratic Party chairman.

[38] Ferner, Finkbeiner's opponent in the general election, had made his name on the political left, working as an anti-war activist, union organizer, environmentalist, and proponent of a municipal power company to replace unpopular utility Toledo Edison, whose electric rates were among the nation's highest.