Cincinnati City Council Election: August 2025 Update

The field of candidates for the Cincinnati City Council Election is set and I am taken aback by the number of local journalists who are desperate for a competitive race. The desire for entraining political content is what masquerades as political journalism a quarter of the way into the 21st Century.

This month we had some prior Republican members of council jump in to the race with the hopes that the manufactured national outrage driving Republican suburbanites to voice their irrational fears will get them elected. 

I am not surprised that Chris Smitherman jumped at the chance to exploit both easily panicked white people and Black voters who are unwilling to see Chris as the Republican he is, no matter how much he denies it.  The Hamilton County Republican Party practically begged him to run as a Republican, but instead Smitherman will run deceitfully as a hidden Republican.  Local media will let him get away with it.  The Business Courier's Chris Wetterich knows better, but will insist that Smitherman is an "Independent" for reasons that are not supportable by logic or reason.

I am disappointed that Liz Keating chose to jump on the Republican band wagon to try and ride the fearful Republicans and find a way to sneak back onto Council.  Since she has sought and earned an endorsement by the Republican Party in 2025, Keating is now a Trumpist.  She has been publicly silent on Trump and his fascist actions.  Now she is running with the full support of Trump's political party.  That means she lacks basic honor and dignity.  No human being can run as an endorsed Republican and be seen as honorable without taking steps that would get them kicked out their party for being disloyal to Trump.  That means she won't take those steps to avoid being a Trumpist.  She could have made a bargain, like Steve Goodin and Smitherman, to quietly get Republican support, but instead she appears to want to carry Trump's water. That is a shame that she lacks courage to denounce Trump publicly. Power matters more than honor to Keating, so she who is silent will be understood to consent to Trumpism.

Looking ahead to November, here is my analysis of the election.  It settles around three scenarios:

1. Democrats Win All Nine: This would be a repeat of the 2023 election.  That election had a significantly higher turnout than most City elections and the Democratic Party showed it's muscles. With only Ten candidates, it should have been fairly easy for Liz Keating to win reelection. She was significantly behind ninth place. Of my three outcomes I think this one is the least likely to happen this year, but if Dems can get a bigger turnout than I would expect, maybe 30% or more rather than the 25% in 2021, then it would be much more likely.

2. Democrats Win Eight: This would be a replay of the 2021 election. The 2021 election was not a high turnout election.  It had a large number of candidates, like this year. It had multiple previous elected council members running and other candidates with name recognition, like this year. That election also had three things that allowed Liz Keating to sneak on: 1) One bad Dem candidate, 2) Keating was a well liked appointed incumbent, and 3) a progressive candidate with a following that was pissed off that the progressive candidate did not get the Dem endorsement over the bad Dem candidate.  All three of these happening lead to Keating getting the lone non-Dem stop on Council in 2021. The three items are not present this year, so it will take something else.  The main possible ways would simply be turnout of Dems falling and moderates doing a wider level of strategic voting. This has many variations that could see 1 non-Dem candidate getting on.

3.Democrats Lose Two or Three Seats: The only way this happens is if Democratic turnout is very low and moderate/Republican turnout is up.  Additionally, Dems would need to either split votes just right to put out some of their endorsees. Moderate/Republican voting would also need to be "strategic."  They can't vote for five or more (let alone a full ticket) as that will dilute the vote for the two or three.  The In-The-Mix voters below would be the most likely group to get enough support to be amongst the two or three.

That's it, those are only three outcomes I can see occurring. I don't think Democrats will win less than six seats on Cincinnati City Council. The media and Republicans and Charter Party loyalists will pretend that possibility is the same as probability. The reality is that Democrats have a clear advantage within the City of Cincinnati and the Drama that will get the attention will be from a few candidates fighting over the scraps that the Democratic Party Voters leave behind. It is just as possible that Cole/Prophett get on as Keating/Smitherman. The small number of seats in play will be about turnout and about voting habits.  I see City Council voters in four groups: 1) Full Ticket voters [Nine], 2) Tall Ticket voters [Six to Eight], 3) Short Ticket voters [Two-Five], and 4) Bullet voters [One]. The average number of votes per ballot in 2023 was about 5.  In 2021 it was about 7.  If it stays at 7 (or rises) the circumstances for Dems losing one or less seats increases. More Short Ticket voting means more chances to blunt the Dem's Full Ticket sword.

The only question left for November is how much of a circus the Republicans will make of this election, with the full cooperation of the news media. The circus will not have significant effect on the election results, but will add to the discontent of the community.  Republicans have demonstrated that power is their goal, not community working together.

At this point, I am unsure if there will be enough new things to warrant another update to the election prior to November 4th.  Be sure to check out the HamCo BOE election schedule which has the voter registration deadline and the dates for early voting.

Democratic Endorsed Candidates
Anna Albi (D*‡)
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D*‡)
Jeff Cramerding (D*‡)
Mark Jeffreys (D*‡)
Meeka Owens (D*)
Scotty Johnson (D*‡
Seth Walsh (D*‡)
Evan Nolan (D*‡)
Ryan James (D‡)

Other Candidates In-the-Mix
Aaron Weiner (C‡)
Laketa Cole (C‡)
Raffel Prophett (I‡)
Christopher Smitherman (R?‡)
Liz Keating (R,C?‡)

Other Endorsed Candidates
Steven Goodin (C‡)
Donald Driehaus (C‡)
Dale Mallory (I‡)
Dawn Johnson (C‡)
Linda Matthews (R‡)
Gary Favors (R‡)

Other Candidates Running
Audricia Brooks (I‡)
Donald Washington (I‡)
Jerry Corbett (I‡)
Kevin Farmer (I‡)
Brandon Nixon (I‡)
Stephan Pryor (I‡)
Gwen Summers (I-Write-In)

If there are other social media or full websites I didn't list for a candidate or there are updates to the one listed, please send me updates: (editor@cincyblog.com).

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group.

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot (Petitions Sufficient)
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me.

Cincinnati City Council Election: July 2025 Update

In the Summer my motivation to write about politics does not normally find a good footing. I was not sure that I was going to even write an update for July. This month made something clear to me. I have been observing and writing about Cincinnati Politics for a long time, over twenty years. There are not many politicians that I find more repulsive than Steve Goodin. I mean there are far worse human beings that has been involved in Cincinnati Politics than Goodin, but as far as being a Politician, Goodin is amongst the most dastardly I have seen run. Give him a mustache he could twirl and he would personify the cartoon character Dick Dastardly.

As I have commented before, the Charter Committee is dead and Goodin, like a straight-to-video Dr. Frankenstein, has hooked up the remains of Charter to the battery of a rusty 1988 Chevy Cavalier with GOP stenciled on the side. What has been reborn is the Charter Party and it is just recycled Republicanism. Steve must be nostalgic for the 20th Century Republican Party as he leads his party down the tropes that harken back to second and third wave white flight. Over the weekend videos of an incident outside of a club drew national attention amongst Republicans, Conservative media, and local news outlets looking for clickbait. This manufactured outrage is what I consider a modern day lynch mob. Republicans perceive black on white crime and Vance's half brother needs better fundraising from the fascist crowd and we get viral bullshit. Charter Party's Facebook page was quick to post on it:

This reads like Republican anti-City dogma from 2001. I would have expected suburbanites like Chris Monzel,  Pat DeWine, Brad Wenstrup, any one of hacks from COAST, or talk radio circus clown Willie Cunningham to push this type of crap, not Charter.  This tripe is disgusting.  There is no transparency to it, it is just Goodin pulling out the typical Republican anti-city dogma.  Fearing Downtown because black people live there is the undertone.  He'll scream bloody murder for me pointing out the obvious, but that is what has driven the attention to this crime, racism. That is why it got national attention: White people were perceived to have been hurt by black people.  Republicans from all over the Suburban and Exurban and Rural parts of  the metro area jumped on the story - after been lead there by the Conservative news media the racially charged algorithms. 

Who saw the opportunity to ride wave of negative publicity? Republican Steve Goodin took hold and lead his new Charter Party into the Republican cave of racial tropes.  It must be 1994 or 2001 in Steve's mind. More cops is the answer that rings out from scared suburban Local TV news watchers who can't tell where a crime story took place, but when it says Local 12 on the Facebook account they assume the headline they read is local.

Charter Committee didn't run campaigns based on fear of the City. That is what Republicans have been doing for at least 50 years. That is what Goodin is doing and will drag down the other Charter candidates.

Goodin should also be questioned on the bad ethical position he created. All Spring he has been running Charter like a Republican political clone of NIMBY fanatics and "then suddenly" chose to run for City Council himself. He had control over a political party, using its resources to build up himself, and then runs for office, presumably still leading the party.  How will being in charge of Party work with the four other candidates that he will be competing with? Who controls the Party money? Seems like a HUGE conflict of interest.  No one can ethically lead/run the party and be its candidate at the same time. It is wrong and he should remove himself from a leadership position, immediately.  He's brought in enough other Republicans to take over that he shouldn't even after worry about the old Charter Committee and its dignity coming back.

I think Goodin hopes to use the other four candidates to build himself up and thinks he can sneak on council like Liz Keating managed in 2021. He forgets that Michelle Dillingham and the internal Dem displeasure of many progressives that she did not get a Dem endorsement (A wise choice by the Dems) is what got Keating elected.  There is little likelihood of a repeat of that sentiment, no matter how much a few might claim otherwise. 

Just two years ago he ran for county wide office as a blood thirsty Republican. He ran a negative campaign and lost big time. He ran as a full throated Conservative post January 6th, 2021 ballot identified Republican.  Goodin is member of the Party of Trump. He has not as far as I know EVER denounced or even publicly criticized Trump. Until he does so the only conclusion to make is that he is a Trump supporter, like any good stooge Republican would be.

The bait and switch in this election will come after Goodin gets on the ballot (assuming he gets it done) and then the Hamilton County Republican Party cross endorses him and he can get the big Republican Chris Bortz Indian Hill money. Bortz has become a big donor to Trumpist Republicans.  I don't know when Bortz went over to the fascists, but he jumped in with big money donations, willingly, as he maxed out on the Primary to Vance's half brother in the mayor's race.

So, if you are someone out there who used to like the Charter Committee, remember, that Charter is dead.  Charter Party is what is here now it is a Republican NIMBY clone that goes against nearly everything Charter used to stand for.

On a side note: Steve also went to the length of blocking my Cincinnati Blog Facebook page from viewing the Charter Facebook page. I've been blocked by people before and I block people as well, for cause.  This blog post is the most critical I've been on Goodin and Charter to date. I don't get why he would do that, but it fairly petty and pointless to block me. I guess he does not like critical comments and didn't want to keep having to delete mine. Oh, well, Charter Party is no longer about Transparency, so why bother being open to the public at all?

Next month petitions are due.  There is still not much to shake up the race. Charter Party is so late to the game. They do not have strong candidates and Charter has a weak organization.  I guess they could try and get Republicans to support them, but the other four Charter Party candidates are not big in Republican circles.  I think Republican Party might endorse one or two more, beyond Goodin, but they will not be strong candidates at all.

By the end of August the candidates who will be on the ballot should be set. I hope the circus from this weekend got as much of that nonsense out of the election's system. The local news media should be embarrassed by giving it as much attention as it did, but tabloid clickbait is number one choice of local news.  

Here are the current listing of candidates.  22 or 23 candidates would be a likely number to get on the ballot. Any one else who gets on are set up to be more also ran candidates.

Democratic Endorsees
Anna Albi (D)‡
Jeff Cramerding (D)‡
Mark Jeffreys (D)‡
Scotty Johnson (D)‡
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D)‡
Meeka Owens (D)‡
Seth Walsh (D)‡
Ryan James (D)‡
Evan Nolan (D)‡

Other Candidates with Organized Campaigns
Laketa Cole (C)‡
Donald Driehaus (C)
Steven Goodin (R,C)
Dawn Johnson (C)
Sol Kersey (DSA)
Raffel Prophett (D)‡
Aaron Weiner (C)‡

Other Candidates with Prior History or on the Ballot

Audricia Brooks (I)‡
Thomas Chandler (R)
Jerry Corbett (I)‡
Kevin Farmer (R)‡
Gary Favors (R) ‡
Linda Matthews (R)
William Moore (I)
Michael Patton (R)
Donald Washington (I)‡

Took Out Petitions (Running?)

Sheila Andrews (I)
LeTecia Cunningham (I)
Autumn Hall (I)
Ryan Holbrook (I)
Travis Johnson (I)
John Maher (I)
Ned Measel (I)
Brandon Nixon (R)
Benjamin Press (I)
Stephan Pryor (I)
Tyrone Roberson (I)
Bart Rosenberg (I)
Gwen Summers (I)
Quentin Taylor (I)
Ozie Davis III (I)
Dale Mallory (I)


Sharetha Collier (I) is also listed as having taken out petitions, but the address listed is in Woodlawn, outside of the City Limits. Additionally the person who has been registered to vote with the same name/address is no longer listed under that name on Hamilton County's voter registration list I have as July 19,2025. I will monitor the list to see if anything changes.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them from future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, these references will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot (Petitions Sufficient)
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
DSA= Democratic Socialists of America
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.

Cincinnati City Council Election: June 2025 Update

The Democratic Party made their endorsements this month and with only minor opposition picked all eight current members of Council. The ninth went to new candidate Ryan James. There were a small number of party members who wanted to repeat a past mistake and endorse ten candidates, but the overwhelming majority of party member present easily prevented that foolishness from occurring. We know of the endorsement process because the Democratic Party makes the endorsement process transparent and structured. This has a downside, as opponents can point to the process as muddled, but this year any observer can see that this is the only transparent endorsement process in the City.

Republicans don't make their proceedings public. We don't know if they will directly endorse any candidates at all. So far there is only one known Republican Candidate who will be on ballot, but as he is an unknown, it is not clear if the Republicans will even endorse him.

The Republican Party does have another new route to take: The Charter Party. I am calling the Charter Committee the Charter Party at this point because their newish leadership is treating it 100% like a Conservative political party in tone and tactics. It is my contention that the Charter Party is just a Republican front and as the campaign season does one I see more and more evidence to support my contention. The names I see working on the Charter Party's efforts are filled with Republicans. The Hyde Park NIMBY movement has Republican DNA and names all over it. These Republicans come across as those who have willingly accepted Trump to run their party. They think by not publicly opposing Trump they don’t join in the complicity of the fascist actions the rest of the party embraces. They are contemptible.

With the quiet take over by Republicans, the most damaging optics for the Charter Party is in its lack of transparency. There used to be a listing on their website of who ran Charter, its board. Since they changed the mailing address to Mt. Adams in a building linked to a Bortz company, there is no list of names to demonstrate who is running Charter. We have no clue what their endorsement process entails. We got a Facebook post claiming a candidate was endorsed. We don't know if any other candidates were considered. That candidate's campaign effort has many Republicans as key supporters. I don't know much about the candidate, but the impression I would make of him indicates he would NOT be a candidate that Republicans would support. I guess at this point, anyone without a Dem endorsement could be someone Charter/Republicans grasp on to in a desperate attempt to gain a little power. Another candidate is also reported to be getting a promised endorsement per the Enquirer, but I've not yet seen a Facebook post with that news.  No process to support that other than the claim by the purported leader of Charter, Republican Steve Goodin.

Something everyone in Cincinnati needs to understand: the Charter Committee is dead. All that remains is the Charter Party, brought to you by a segment of Republicans.

At this point in the campaign 12 candidates have their petitions approved and will be on the November ballot, presuming they don't withdraw. That means at this point, the Democratic Party will retain a veto proof majority on Council, with a minimum of six candidates, if nothing changes. None of the three non-Dem-endorsed candidates have a campaign that would be favored to beat any of the Democrats. There are no other names who have taken out petitions that have a campaign that so far would be a big challenge. There are possible ways that some candidates could win, but those possibilities are problematic.

The first tactic that would happen is the traditional Parties to run a slate of candidates. This would mean at least three to five candidates. Logically this gives the potential of the party to have control of council. This approach requires a voter base to rely on the party for a message that resonates. Just being anti-Democratic Party only works with Republicans/Conservatives.

The next tactic, which has recently worked, is having a more left wing viable candidate that can draw a bunch of votes away from Dems and get one candidate on. This worked in 2021, but it required that person to be an appointed incumbent with a cross Repuiblican-Charter endorsement. So far, this is not lining up to occur.

Republicans seem poised to not be doing much in the City, yet again.  They may attempt some dirty tricks in the Mayor's race and be willing to throw some money at some of the also-rans Republicans in the race, but I think they would rather spend that money in the Suburbs and shore up Dem voter gains.

Charter as mentioned above is working on putting up a slate of candidates, but at this point they only have two candidates.  To have a credible slate they would have at least enough to have a majority on council. It will not be a surprise if they take one or two Democrats that didn’t get endorsed, but this will not have a solid team, that work together. Candidates for council do not win by being negative. So far, that is all Charter Party is doing, being negative towards Democrats.

The list of candidates for Council so far is starting to take shape. We have the set nine endorsed Democrats that will be the favorites. Two of the Nine are up for election for the first time and would be seen as the most vulnerable. That vulnerability is a very subjective concept. The opposition to the Dems will play up that vulnerability intently.

The next grouping are candidates with an organized campaign. Each of them are either already have the signatures to be on the ballot or have the basics of a campaign with fundraising and campaign website. None of these candidates has a clear attribute that makes them strong contenders at this point. 

The rest of those listed either have no campaign going at all or not yet. At this point, if you are not organized and don’t have 100k lined up in donations, you do not stand a chance. I am sure there are some ego driven people who think it would be easy to run an independent campaign for Cincinnati City Council, but are fools to think that. 

I can see 15-18 candidates making the ballot this year. Maybe more, but people who think they just need to get on the ballot to win are not serious candidates. I don't know how much additional movement in the race we'll see before the August 21st deadline. If more candidates get their petitions approved, I'll keep the monthly updates going.  I am skeptical that the smoke and bluster from some of the campaigns will amount to a damn thing. In this siloed media landscape where local politics do not make dent in the simple minds of voters, I don't see how anyone will find a way to beat the Democratic Slate's postcards handed out at polling stations across the City.

Democratic Endorsees
Anna Albi (D*‡)
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D*‡)
Jeff Cramerding (D*‡)
Mark Jeffreys (D*‡)
Meeka Owens (D*‡)
Scotty Johnson (D*‡)
Seth Walsh (D*‡)
Evan Nolan (D*‡)
Ryan James (D‡)

Other Candidates with Organized Campaigns
Aaron Weiner (C)
Donald Driehaus (C?)
Jerry Corbett (I‡)
Kevin Farmer (R‡)
Linda Matthews (R)
Raffel Prophett (D‡)
Sol Kersey (D)
Laketa Cole (D)

Other Candidates with Prior History

Gary Favors (R)
Michael Patton (R)
Thomas Chandler (R)
William Moore (I)

Took Out Petitions (Running?)

Audricia Brooks (D)
Autumn Hall (I)
Bart Rosenberg (D)
Brandon Nixon (R)
Dawn Johnson (I)
Donald Washington (I)
Gwen Summers (I)
John Maher (I)
LeTecia Cunningham (I)
Ned Measel (I)
Quentin Taylor (I)
Ryan Holbrook (I)
Sheila Andrews (I)
Stephan Pryor (D)
Tyrone Roberson (I)

Presumed Not Running

Dale Mallory (D)
Ozie Davis III (D)

Sharetha Collier (I) is also listed as having taken out petitions, but the address listed is in Woodlawn, outside of the City Limits. Additionally the person who has been registered to vote with the same name/address is no longer listed under that name on Hamilton County's voter registration list I have as June 24,2025. I will monitor the list to see if anything changes.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, these references will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot (Petitions Sufficient)
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
DSA= Democratic Socialists of America
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.

Cincinnati City Council Election May 2025 Update

The Cincinnati Council Election is slowly taking shape. We are seeing the Democratic candidates vying for an endorsement get closer to getting on the ballot. We are seeing more candidates take out petitions to get on the ballot. There are not any new candidates entering the race with significant following or campaign capacity. There are still no public signs that more candidates are fundraising, beyond those looking for a Dem endorsement. At this point we have nine candidates who have had their signatures validated, with two more in process. One additional candidate is set to turn their petitions in next week. That will cover all of the incumbent Democrats running and 4 new candidates. The Democratic Party has stated they plan on making their endorsements by the end of June and having your petitions submitted and approved is believed to be a requirement for consideration. At this point there are two candidates with indications that they would be seeking the Democratic endorsement: Sol Kersey and Raffel Prophett.  There is no guarantee that all eight current members of City Council will get the endorsement.

We are not seeing any sign of the Charter Committee doing anything directly for the City Council Election. The Republicans who are now running Charter Committee have picked Hyde Park as a pet project. They are the likely funders and facilitators of the effort to get the Hyde Park initiative on the ballot. 18K signatures are not collected without having either money to pay for workers or having a large organization with big reach. Charter does not have any type of large group of supporters to tap into. That leaves paying for workers. Charter is no longer a group that supports transparency, they are just lead by a yet another Republican who is running them like the Republican Party. Charter of the past would never have gotten this involved with this type of effort. The Charter of the past would have been transparent. Charter is Dead. What is left over is a rump of Republicans.

It is astonishing to me how much effort is going in to manufacture political conflict in the City. Whether it is an unserious nepo mayoral candidate being fielded by the Republicans or local news media making a mountain out of few squeaky wheels in Hyde Park, Drama is what we are fed. I continue to write this blog as a way to do two things: provide information and voice my opinion. I don't push drama. The Hyde Park development issue is way overblown. There is no high stakes on this. This is ONLY about a privileged segment of a wealthy neighborhood (not even most of the neighborhood) that have the ear of local news media and the Charter Committee and Republican Party. No other neighborhood in the city could get this type of attention for a minor issue that will overall not affect many. It is a sad state that the Charter Committee is using this to gain relevance. When they fail, the organization should dissolve. Either the Republican Party should do something or local conservatives should just form some type of party.

Incumbants
Anna Albi (D*)‡
Jeff Cramerding (D*)
Mark Jeffreys (D*)
Scotty Johnson (D*)‡
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D*)‡
Evan Nolan (D*)‡
Meeka Owens (D*)‡
Seth Walsh (D*)‡


Challengers With Something
Sol Kersey (D)
Raffel Prophett (D)‡
Laketa Cole (D)
Ozie Davis III (D)
Gary Favors (R)
Dale Mallory (D)

Other Candidates
Audricia Brooks (D)
Thomas Chandler (R)
Jerry Corbett (I)‡
LeTecia Cunningham (I)
Kevin Farmer (R)
Autumn Hall (I)
Ryan Holbrook (I)
Ryan James (I)‡
John Maher (I)
Ned Measel (I)
Linda Matthews (R)
William Moore (I)
Brandon Nixon (R)
Michael Patton (R)
Stephan Pryor (D)
Tyrone Roberson (I)
Bart Rosenberg (D)
Gwen Summers (I)
Quentin Taylor (I)
Aaron Weiner (I)

Sharetha Collier (I) is also listed as having taken out petitions, but the address listed is in Woodlawn, outside of the City Limits. Additionally the person who has been registered to vote with the same name/address is no longer listed under that name on Hamilton County's voter registration list I have as May 23, 2025. I will monitor the lists to see if anything changes.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, these references will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot (Peititions Sufficient)
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
DSA= Democratic Socialists of America
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.

Cincinnati City Council Election February 2025 Update

Big News in the Cincinnati City Council 2025 Election: Council Member Victoria Parks announced in January that she will not be seeking reelection to City Council.  That provides a very small shake up to the race. I will repeat: a very SMALL shake up.  At this point there are no indications that the domination from Democrats will face any serious challenge.  Candidates that are serious are raising money NOW. I have identified nine candidates raising money via Actblue, a fundraising application that caters to Democratic candidates. Those candidates are serious.  They are taking the needed steps to get support from the Democratic Party. The party has stated they will hold a meeting in May to vote on the recommendation of the nomination committee.  That leaves little time to demonstrate to committee members that you are a serious candidate. Time is running out for anyone else who has taken out petitions to run and is not raising money.

Getting the Democratic Party endorsement is best way to win. Getting a Democratic Party nomination may be the only way to win in Cincinnati.

The Charter Committee, long considered Cincinnati's third political party, has done a press relations offensive to demonstrate they still exist.  At this point they are being lead by Steve Goodin, a Republican, and their agenda seems to be a NIMBY push to win friends (donors) amongst the rich in Hyde Park.  They have moved their office to the Towne Properties HQ in Mt. Adams.  That makes it clear, at least to me, that the Charter Committee is under the control of Republicans. The Bortz family, long time Charter Committee supporters, are known as Republicans.  At this point, if you are a Republican that has not divorced themselves from Trump, publicly, then you are complicit with the Trump Regime.  Goodin last ran for County wide office and pushed a negative campaign designed to tap into hardcore conservatives. He lost. At best this effort is one that is designed to keep the Charter Party relevant and allow it to try to push Charter Amendments to the ballot that are designed to help Republicans claw back power in the City.  Being NIMBY is the trend that Republicans in Cities have been using in other places.  Trying to exploit the fears of home owners is a trite Republican tactic. It is not surprising for Republicans like Goodin to use fear as a wedge. Goodin seems happy with Trump in office, so fear seems like his play and laying on the Charter cloak is how he wants to build up a powerbase. He won't get anyone elected without big name recognition, money, and campaign activity. This effort can therefore be read as a way to build a new conservative power in the City, hiding the Republican Party smell. I think this will be a failure, but the local media will give them all the free press they want and will continue to push any negative story about Democratic candidates and the party.

The Republican Party is now a fascist party lead by Trump and those following him.  The Republican Party is attempting to destroy Cities.  That is not hyperbole.  That has been going on for the better part of two decades. There will not be any serious candidates running for City Council this year.  There are two unserious Republican Mayoral candidates that have one two purposes: 1) gain attention for the candidate to be better known as a way to gain influence and money in Conservative media and 2) Give the Republicans another channel to attack a City. This manufactured PR effort already has gained the attention of local journalists who want to increase their suburban (non-city) audience. All this will amount to no Republicans getting elected this election.

Left wing political groups will likely whine a bit, but their usual failures will keep them from doing anything beyond getting social media attention solely withing left wing circles.

This leaves us with a campaign that has some movement, but appears to be forming a clear path forward with nine Dems who would likely get endorsed. I expect this to be boring campaign, if you just ignore the Republicans and Leftists making pointless noise.  I am not going to give oxygen to pointless, so do not expect another update without something to report on the candidates.

Incumbant Candidates

Anna Albi (D)*
Jeff Cramerding (D)*
Mark Jeffreys (D)*
Scotty Johnson (D)*
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D)*
Evan Nolan (D)*
Meeka Owens (D)*
Seth Walsh (D)*

Announced Candidates

Sol Kersey (D)

Taken Out Peititions to Run

Audricia Brooks (D)
Laketa Cole (D)
Jerry Corbett (I)
LeTecia Cunningham (I)
Ozie Davis III (D)
Ryan James (I)
Linda Matthews (R)
William Moore (I)
Brandon Nixon (I)
Michael Patton (R)
Raffel Prophett (I)
Stephan Pryor (D)
Tyrone Roberson (I)
Bart Rosenberg (D)
Gwen Summers (I)

Sharetha Collier (I) is also listed as having taken out petitions, but the address listed is in Woodlawn, outside of the City Limits. Additionally the person who has been registered to vote with the same name/address is no longer listed under that name on Hamilton County's voter registration list I have as of last month. I will monitor the lists to see if anything changes.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, these references will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party

DSA= Democratic Socialists of America
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.

News Media Continues to Fail Cincinnati

If you pay attention to Cincinnati politics, you should have seen the news articles about JD Vance’s half-brother running for Mayor of Cincinnati. Yes, I am annoyed by them.  Sure, coverage of local politics is a positive, but this was not about local politics. This was about tapping into fame for audience share.

The local media did the usual bad job of reporting and just wrote puff pieces. They can not afford to offend Republicans, so they create press release articles that add nothing taking away from Vance’s brother’s obvious goal of getting attention. 

For those living in the fake world of influencers, he is trying to build his brand. 

He has virtually no chance to win the Mayoral election and likely has no honest interest in Cincinnati government. I doubt he knows a damn thing about the City. In 2023, the last City election, the guy didn’t even vote. This should be a disqualifying fact, but local media just was something to entertain the Butler and Warren county Republicans, so facts don’t matter, just the narrative they wants to build. If this guy cared about the City, he would be running for City Council and local journalists know this. Instead of dismissing this candidate, like the other unknowns running, they give him MORE attention and make it all positive. That is a failure.

On top of the bad local reporting, the national and International press pushed out the headlines on Vance’s brother as a way to get clicks. The majority of them do not know the political demographics of the City of Cincinnati and could not discern it from the Cincinnati MSA. It is sad that so many national "political journalists" ether did not bother to research the viability of a Republican running for Mayor in the City of Cincinnati. If they did, they would question this guy’s sincerity from the start. Another failure, this time from afar.

Cincinnati City Council Election January 2025 Update

Welcome to Cincinnati City Council Election Year 2025! We are 295 days away from the November election and there is some surprising news: We have a significant number of people who have taken out petitions to run for council. The BOE's website snuck this list in on Friday and it very much may not be a complete list, as three rows with blank names were included on the file and three incumbents were not listed as having taken out petitions to run yet.

Most of the names that are non-incumbents on the list of petition takers are new to me, so I don't know anything about them or their political leanings. There is one well known name included is Laketa Cole, a former member of City Council. This is a surprise because she had a very recent criminal conviction within the last few years. She has name recognition, but not all of that is good and she's been out of office since 2010 when she resigned for a state job. She did not last at State and was returned to City Employment by John Cranley. I would not expect a Party Endorsement, but there are Democrats who want a mess.  The problem is that Cole has been aligned with the Cranley crowd, far more moderate than progressive wing of the party that likes to attack the Democratic Party from within almost as much as Republicans like to do from the outside.  I can see yet another nasty endorsement process.  There is no good reason that process is made public.

Yes, we also have a Mayoral election this year as well. At this point there are six people who have taken out petitions for the May Primary, including current Mayor Aftab Pureval. If less than three people appear on the primary ballot, there won't be a primary election for Mayor. None of the other names are anyone I recognize and don't have any presence online. Unless those who have pulled petitions are doing so hide another candidate, then Aftab won't face any significant challengers. Republican Chris Smitherman seemed to cherish being appointed Vice-Mayor by John Cranley, so it would not surprise me that if there is a candidate that is trying to sneak around behind the scenes in desperation

Incumbant Candidates

Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D)*‡
Meeka Owens (D)*
Victoria Parks (D)*
Jeff Cramerding (D)*
Mark Jeffreys (D)*
Scotty Johnson (D)*
Seth Walsh (D)*
Anna Albi (D)*
Evan Nolan (D)*(Appointed in 2024)

Possible Candidates 

Audricia Brooks (I)
Gwen Summers (I)
Linda Matthews (R)
Laketa Cole (D)
Stephan Pryor (I)
LeTecia Cunningham (I)
Brandon Nixon (I)
Tyrone Roberson (I)
Barton Rosenberg (I)

Sharetha Collier (I) is also listed as having taken out petitions, but the address listed is in Woodlawn, outside of the City Limits. Additionally the person who has been registered to vote with the same name/address is no longer listed under that name on Hamilton County's voter registration list I have as of last month. I will monitor the lists to see if anything changes.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, these references will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party

DSA= Democratic Socialists of America
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.