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.