Thursday, November 02, 2017

Council Race Heats Up

Only just over a week to go before the election and my mailbox is starting to fill up. I am disappointed seeing the State Democratic party dumping money into the Mayor's race with multiple mailers for Cranley. Even under new leadership they continue to make mistakes. Instead of trying to build a party to win in the upcoming elections, they handpicked candidates they think could have won prior elections they hope repeat in the future.

We are closer to start making some more predictions about the race. Haha! What I really mean is that I am getting closer to making some wild guesses based on conventional wisdom.  Council races are a mix of predictable and surprising.  It should be easy to predict 4 to 6 candidates.  The 4 Democratic incumbents are heavy CW favorites and the 2 Republicans (including Smitherman) have clear advantages.  What holds the 2 Republicans back is the most unpredictable element, voter turnout.  One of the most common CW tropes about Cincinnati elections is that the GOP votes more consistently in off year elections than the Dems.  Therefore the higher the turnout, the better Democratic candidates do.

I have updated my list below creating some new groups and shifting a few candidates around.  Those whom I am giving advantage is based on the campaign and a repeat turnout from 2013.  If turnout rises, look for candidates like Smitherman and Murray to fall and potentially be out of the top 9.

Lock
P.G. Sittenfeld* (D, FOP, PWR endorsed)

Likely
David Mann* (D,C, FOP, PWR endorsed)
Chris Seelbach* (D endorsed)

Some advantage:
Wendell Young* (D endorsed)
Amy Murray* (R,C, FOP, PWR endorsed)
Christopher Smitherman* (R but pretending to be I, FOP, PWR and for some reason G endorsed)
Derek Bauman (C endorsed) (D)
Tamaya Dennard (D,C, PWR endorsed)
Greg Landsman (D, FOP, PWR endorsed)

In the Mix:
Ozie Davis III (D, FOP, PWRendorsed)
Michelle Dillingham (D endorsed)
Leslie Jones (D endorsed)
Jeff Pastor (R, FOP endorsed)
Laure Quinlivan (D)

Outside Chance
Henry Frondorf (C, PWR endorsed) (D)
Seth Maney (R, FOP, PWR endorsed)
Tamie Sullivan (G, FOP endorsed) (R)

Chances Dropping
Tonya Dumas (D)
Manuel Foggie

Also Ran
Erica Black-Johnson (I)
Cristina Burcica (I)
Brian Garry (G endorsed) (D)
Kelli Prather (D)
Dadrien Washington (Write-In)


Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.

Key
* = Incumbent
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
I= Independent
FOP= Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police (Union) Endorsement
PWR = Partnership of Westside Residence PAC Endorsement

Monday, October 16, 2017

Illegally Placed or Legally Placed Political Signs?

Saw this on twitter this morning from Republican City Council candidate Seth Maney.
The problem I have are the political signs along the side of the road.

Picture from Seth Maney Twitter post 10-16-2017
If that land is private land, I hope they got permission to do that. If that is public land that is not right and should be illegal and subject to a fine. Hamilton County Republicans won't let it come to a fine. They won't do anything because they protect their own.

If this was a Democratic candidate making a clear rookie mistake of publishing a picture of campaign violations, you can be sure it would be fodder for 'PX' in the Enquirer the next issue, including a veiled threat to charge a crime from the GOP county prosecutor. Instead, we'll get silence of this minor issue that goes on (both sides place signs all over the place) every year. It is just galling that a candidate has someone operating the campgin twitter account that green, but other than this tired old blogger, no one will point out that incompetence. Instead, the small band of Republicans will vote for the unknown candidate because he has a Republican Party Endorsement. Hell, the local FOP endorsed the guy with no track record on anything police or public safety related, but ignored a candidate who recently was forced to retire as a police officer because of an injury he received on the job and who has worked very hard for police officers, especially for the family of slain Cincinnati Police Officer Sonny Kim.

To make sure people are clear, the real issue is not about the signs.  This stuff happens.  Campaign volunteers don't know what they are doing and do this all the time.  The same person likely placed all three.  If it was the land owner, all is well, but likely, since they are placed well so all are seen, it was done by a campaign volunteer with a little bit of knowledge.  Some campaigns may even do this intentionally, with full knowledge it is wrong, but everyone on the campaigns turn a blind eye to it, as long as their party is Republican.

Instead the issue is that someone tweeted a picture of this.  I replied with a question on twitter on this.  I probably won't get a response.  No seasoned candidate would give two fucks about the signs, unless they could get some good PR about it.  It is an indication of a candidate or campaign not prepared.  Maney got into this late and I don't know how much organization backing he has, but this incident indicates that they make big mistakes like this.  Twitter mistakes run in the party.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Cranley Administration Cancels Riverfront Bike Trail and Fails to Notify Anyone

In the Cincinnati Enquirer's article: Ohio River bike trail hits dead end as money woes force Cincinnati out you don't see Mayor John Cranley's name, but you should. Former Mayor Mallory agreed to the project and if was still the Mayor the article would have at least included a phrase saying the Mayor's office had no comment.  That would be enough to connect the Mayor to the issue.  Instead the transportation and planning director was thrown under the bus (sorry) for this in-action.

The Anderson Township trustee who is prominently quoted in the article, was not given a quote calling anyone out, just one calling out the city in general for failing to notify anyone they are pulling out of the project and losing the Federal funds that were to be included with it.  The reporter should have gotten a comment from Cranley's office, even if they refereed them to the City Manager or the Transportation Department.  This failure rests at Cranley's feet and in case anyone forgot, WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MAYORAL CAMPAIGN.  This should be another scandal for Cranley.  He and his administration failed and the Enquirer should have reported that, not let their political team deal with it and likely let it pass, unoticed

The whole Wasson way project is funded and was a pet project of CRANLEY and the article mentioned this, but didn't include Cranley's name with it.  He was it's champion.  It ran through the heart of his East side political support.  Cranley supports bike trails but let this one fail, but funded another.  The story damn near writes itself. Cranley favors pet Eastside project over regional project that could attract more revenue.  If Cranley ever runs for Congress in the 2nd district, the riverfront trail he 'Crancelled' runs through suburban areas of the 2nd district and I am sure those voters in Anderson Township will blame a Conservative Democratic Mayor for doing what a Republican would do.

Local politics and its media coverage are both like a bike trip along the riverfront, at a certain point it hits a dirt path and stops.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

No Westside Increases to Parking Meter Rates, Only Up in Central and Eastern Neighborhoods

This has Cranley's finger prints on it. The City is raising parking meter rates this month on selective neighborhoods:

Clifton
Corryville
The Heights
CUF
East Walnut Hills
Hyde Park
Mount Lookout
Northside
Oakley
College Hill
O'Bryonville
Pleasant Ridge
Walnut Hills
Downtown
Over-the-Rhine

There is already excessive enforcement of parking in Downtown and mos especially in OTR, now only certain neighborhoods get the parking rate increase. This does not appear to be an equitable distribution of the tax burden. The GOP should be pissed, unless you are a GOP living in Mt. Washington, Price Hill, Westwood, Columbia-Tusculum, or Saylor Park, to name a few GOP strongholds.

Monday, September 04, 2017

Sept 4th Update to the 2017 City of Cincinnati Council Candidates

Today is Labor Day, the traditional start of the full campaign season.  Today I am also posting what should be the finalized candidate list.  Four candidates that turned in signatures did not have them verified and failed to make the ballot.  One new write in candidate was added on.  Write in candidates have a much lower threshold to meet, but they don't have their name on the ballot.  If a voter writes them in, they will be counted.  If a voter writes in anyone else not on the ballot, that vote will not count.

Now we get into who might win.  Based on my analysis this year, there are currently four candidates likely to win. That leaves fives seats really up for grabs.  This analysis is based on a key element: enthusiasm is higher with the  Democratic base.  Getting out your base is a requirement for Council wins.  With a wide field of Dems (endorsed and not) that puts a second requirement of being a known credible candidate.  Incumbents generally get that automatically.  Endorsements, money, media attention, and name recognition make up the other common ways of being credible.  I have never seen a non-credible candidate win.

I've added referenced to a couple of conservative leaning endorsement groups, the FOP and PWR PAC, that announced their endorsements recently.

Lock
P.G. Sittenfeld* (D, FOP, PWR endorsed)

Likely
David Mann* (D,C, FOP, PWR endorsed)
Chris Seelbach* (D endorsed)
Wendell Young* (D endorsed)

In the Mix:
Derek Bauman (C endorsed) (D)
Ozie Davis III (D, FOP, PWRendorsed)
Tamaya Dennard (D,C, PWR endorsed)
Michelle Dillingham (D endorsed)
Leslie Jones (D endorsed)
Greg Landsman (D, FOP, PWR endorsed)
Amy Murray* (R,C, FOP, PWR endorsed)
Jeff Pastor (R, FOP endorsed)
Laure Quinlivan (D)
Christopher Smitherman* (R but pretending to be I, FOP, PWR and for some reason G endorsed)


Outside Chance
Tonya Dumas (D)
Manuel Foggie
Henry Frondorf (C, PWR endorsed) (D)
Seth Maney (R, FOP, PWR endorsed)
Tamie Sullivan (G, FOP endorsed) (R)

Also Ran
Erica Black-Johnson (I)
Cristina Burcica (I)
Brian Garry (G endorsed) (D)
Kelli Prather (D)
Dadrien Washington (Write-In)


Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.

Key
* = Incumbent
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
I= Independent
FOP= Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police (Union) Endorsement
PWR = Partnership of Westside Residence PAC Endorsement

Friday, August 25, 2017

Post Deadline Update to the 2017 City of Cincinnati Council Candidates

27 candidates are on the list, with 8 of those pending on verification of signatures.  A big list, but not as big as it was expected.  8 other candidates had indications they were running.  1 of those 8 was endorsed by the Green Party and another 1 of the 8 had a full website up and running, but couldn't get enough signatures.

1 new candidate, Peterson Mingo, a fairly well known local Minister, surprisingly submitted signatures and is pending to get on the ballot.  His name recognition is his only asset at this point, but even that is clouded by legal trouble he was in regarding city building code violations.  He might get new voters out to polls, which could drive more votes to other candidates, especially in the mayor's race.  No word on who he is supporting in that contest, but he did get help from John Cranley for the legal trouble his was in.

Now the fun begins.  Money is a key element to know who stands the biggest chance, but face to face connections matter.  Endorsements of various groups matter.  The FOP endorsements are out and they skipped two retired police officers and picked all of the Republicans.  Shocked I am not.

I will continue providing updates to this list as the campaign rolls on, but only to shift candidates to new categories as things change.  Predicting candidates in anything other than general categories is pointless, so their may not be much fluctuation.  News coverage, new endorsements, new money are the drives for much of the fluctuation.  Those who are seen to be pressing the flesh, show they are serious.  Those who look like they are professional serious candidates are more likely than those who appear to be fly-by-night candidates to win, so they move closer to be considered in the mix. The big ride begins now.

Lock
P.G. Sittenfeld* (D endorsed) ‡

Likely
David Mann* (D,C endorsed) ‡
Chris Seelbach* (D endorsed) ‡
Wendell Young* (D endorsed) ‡

In the Mix:
Derek Bauman (C endorsed) (D) ‡
Ozie Davis III (D endorsed) ‡
Tamaya Dennard (D,C endorsed) ‡
Michelle Dillingham (D endorsed) ‡
Leslie Jones (D endorsed) ‡
Greg Landsman (D endorsed) ‡
Amy Murray* (R,C endorsed) ‡
Jeff Pastor (R endorsed) ‡
Laure Quinlivan (D) ‡
Christopher Smitherman* (R but pretending to be I and for some reason G endorsed) ‡


Outside Chance
Tonya Dumas (D) ‡
Manuel Foggie
Henry Frondorf (C endorsed) (D) ‡
Seth Maney (R endorsed) ‡
Beverly Odoms (D) ‡
Tamie Sullivan (R) ‡
Peterson Mingo ‡

Also Ran
Erica Black-Johnson (I) ‡
Cristina Burcica (I) ‡
Herschel Chalk II
Brian Garry (D) ‡
Kelli Prather (D) ‡
Theo Barnes ‡

Not on the Ballot
Dawud Mustafa
Kit Earls (G endorsed)
Mary Hall
Damon Lynch IV
Michael Rachford
Edith Thrower
Orlando Welborn (D)
Matt Teaford (I)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.

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

Sunday, August 20, 2017

August Update to the 2017 City of Cincinnati Council Candidates

This coming week is it for candidates trying to get on the ballot for the 2017 Cincinnati Council race. August 24th is the deadline and there are many who announced they are running, but have not turned in their signatures yet, including several endorsed candidates.  I don't know what would be taking so long for the endorsed candidates, they should have plenty of party members to sign, unless it's the Green Party.

Making the ballot will not be finalized on the 24th, it will require review of the signatures before the candidate is officially on the ballot.  I think the maximum number on the ballot will be 28, which leaves out the "Are They Actually Running?" group below.  With only 16 listed on the BOE unofficial listing, that is quite a bit of activity for the remaining 12.  I'll post an update to the listing once the ballot is finalized, hopefully in 7 to 10 days.  After that I'll start reviewing the financials of candidates and see who else any sense of a campaign.


Lock
P.G. Sittenfeld* (D endorsed) ‡

Likely
David Mann* (D,C endorsed) ‡
Chris Seelbach* (D endorsed) ‡
Wendell Young* (D endorsed)

In the Mix:
Derek Bauman (C endorsed) (D) ‡
Ozie Davis III (D endorsed)
Tamaya Dennard (D,C endorsed)
Michelle Dillingham (D endorsed) ‡
Leslie Jones (D endorsed) ‡
Greg Landsman (D endorsed) ‡
Amy Murray* (R,C endorsed) ‡
Jeff Pastor (R endorsed) ‡
Laure Quinlivan (D) ‡
Christopher Smitherman* (R but pretending to be I and for some reason G endorsed) ‡


Outside Chance
Tonya Dumas (D)
Manuel Foggie
Henry Frondorf (C endorsed) (D) ‡
Seth Maney (R endorsed)
Beverly Odoms (D)
Tamie Sullivan (R) ‡
Matt Teaford (I)

Also Ran
Erica Black-Johnson (I)
Cristina Burcica (I) ‡
Herschel Chalk II
Dawud Mustafa
Kit Earls (G endorsed)
Brian Garry (D) ‡
Kelli Prather (D)

Are the Actually Running?
Theo Barnes
Mary Hall
Damon Lynch IV
Michael Rachford
Edith Thrower
Orlando Welborn (D)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.


As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (cincyblog@aol.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.

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