It is November of 2026. The Midterms are over and now Cincy
politicos' eyes turn to 2027. In Cincinnati that means the City Council election
is now starting. This means candidates that are serious about running should be
organizing now. This is the time to form a campaign committee and line up
donors and volunteers. If they are Democrats, they need to make connections
with precinct executives who will vote for the party endorsements.
With the massive victory by Ohio Democrats in the Midterms,
this will bring change many ways to local governments. This comes in two ways:
existing candidates win higher office and the State Government turnover means
local people will join Amy Acton in Columbus to run the State.
Two siting members of council were running for higher office,
and both won their elections. Meeka Owens and Seth Walsh will be leaving
Council before they are sworn in to office early next year. That means two
people will be appointed to fill those seats. As all endorsed Democrats for
City Council won election last year, there are no obvious choices to fill those
seats. Most of the other candidates who ran for City Council are hostile to the
local Democratic Party, even if they consider themselves Democrats. I would be
surprised to any of those who ran get an appointment. There will be plenty of “activists”
spiting vitriol online about the Democratic Party. 98% of the chatter will come from those who want
power, but are who lack the abilities need to get elected. That includes having terrible political views
and having no significant support amongst voters. This is the usual trite
players that are desperate for power. It
will be interesting if any of them change their tune after the Blue Tsunami.
The next level of changing facing Council will be those
getting a job in Columbus. Some of could be direct and some could be a ripple
effect. There are reports that Anna Albi
could be picked for a job in the Acton Administration. Additionally, there are
current Democrats holding office in Hamilton County that could get picked for a
Columbus position, which might open up a County position for someone on Council
to get. Jeff Cramerding would logically get consideration, depending on which offices
are open. In these cases that would open
up additional council seats. It is more likely these moves would not come until
after the new Governor takes office and officially has the power to hire people.
With the new Lt. Governor being David Pepper, former member of City Council and
the Hamilton County Commission, it make sense that his influence makes it likely
for Cincinnati people to join the Acton administration.
The other longer term issue is the Mayor. Aftab Pureval was
already seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party. Now with an insurgence in Ohio, what will his
next step be? Is there a job for him in Columbus? I would think that is not
what he would want at this point. I see him looking at higher office, but what
that is depends on timing and who else wants higher office. Greg Landsman could
be another with similar sights as Pureval. The Mayor’s term is not up until January of
2030. The election in 2029 for Mayor will likely include at least one person currently
on council, so how they perform on Council and in the next election will matter
greatly to the future support they get.
I will be watching two other groups who might at least go
through the motions in 2027: Republicans and Charter Party. Both groups were embarrassed
last year as they were defeated handily by Democrats while running campaigns
that got took cues from national Republicans like JD Vance and of course Trump.
I think the Republicans are finally toast. I would guess they take the election
off. They do not have any ideas to run
other than attacking the Democratic Party for existing. If they run anyone, I will ridicule them if
they don’t have something different than the same old anti-city crap build for
the suburbs. I won’t be shocked if some
consultant wants to get paid and convinces a foolish donor to fund an also-ran
candidate.
Charter Party still has Steve Goodin and he has demonstrated he wants power, that is all. He has not shed his Republican ideology in any noticeable way and has done NOTHING to wipe the Trump stank from his approach and from running after a Republican candidate after 01/06/2021. He is against the Democrats for getting far more votes than he gets, but has no other ideas that are not built for the suburbanites that are scared of the city and buy into the myths people like Steve throw as political fodder. If he has not learned anything from the Midterm election, then he is a fool. Based on the boosted platform the Enquirer has given him in their opinion pages, he did not learn a thing from last year’s preview of a Blue Wave. I am not optimistic he will change his approach after the Republicans got spanked on Tuesday.
