Ohio’s Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval is heading to the November election after a promising showing in the May 4 Cincinnati mayoral primary election.
Voters in the city s nonpartisan primary were picking two finalists for mayor who will face off against each other in November. All but independent Najoli are Democrats.
The candidates fanned out across the city Tuesday, braving torrential downpours at times, in an effort to talk to voters.
The men are aiming for the city s top job, which pays $131,000 a year. This election comes in the wake of four council members over the last 14 months being arrested on corruption allegations.
Term limits prevent Mayor John Cranley from running again, and of the council members elected in 2017 only Greg Landsman can run for re-election.
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The mayor s race to come this fall will be a contest of contrasts – Pureval, the energetic 38-year-old who burst on the scene as a rock star candidate for clerk of courts and carried that charisma over into a losing campaign for Congress in 2018; versus Mann, an 81-year-old veteran of six decades in politics, a man who has been there and done that in nearly every aspect of city government. You know, the city of Cincinnati is a tremendously complicated enterprise, Mann tells WVXU. It s got over 6,000 employees, it spends $1.5 billion a year, we have 17 departments that provide an important range of services to our citizens. And I ve been in the ring. And I think that s important in terms of knowing just how to operate and direct and lead as mayor. So I ve got a tremendous advantage. And I can be a very effective mayor from day one.
Pureval, Mann advance to Cincinnati mayor general election
Associated Press
CINCINNATI (AP) Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval and long-time City Council Member David Mann will advance to the November election and vie for Cincinnati mayor.
Pureval received 39% of the votes and Mann had 29% with all of the city’s precincts reporting Tuesday night, according to the city’s unofficial results.
Six candidates ran in the election. The race to govern Ohio’s third-largest city is nonpartisan, but Democrats dominate the city’s politics.
Among the candidates were former Cincinnati police officer and Democratic state Sen. Cecil Thomas, businessperson Gavi Begtrup, retired firefighter Raffel Prophett, and educator Herman Najoli.