Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
0000017a-3b40-d913-abfe-bf44a4f90000Howard Wilkinson joined the WVXU news team as the politics reporter and columnist in April 2012 , after 30 years of covering local, state and national politics for The Cincinnati Enquirer. On this page, you will find his weekly column, Politically Speaking; the Monday morning political chats with News Director Maryanne Zeleznik and other news coverage by Wilkinson. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Wilkinson has covered every Ohio gubernatorial race since 1974, as well as 16 presidential nominating conventions. Along with politics, Wilkinson also covered the 2001 Cincinnati race riots, the Lucasville prison riot in 1993, the Air Canada plane crash at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1983, and the 1997 Ohio River flooding. And, given his passion for baseball, you might even find some stories about the Cincinnati Reds here from time to time.

Polls open for Cincinnati mayoral primary

The polls are open in Cincinnati, as city residents take their first step toward choosing a new mayor in today's primary election election.

Polling places opened at 6:30 a.m. and the voting ends at 7:30 p.m.

Board of elections officials are expecting a very low turnout. Hamilton County Democratic Party chairman Tim Burke, the chairman of the elections board, said this morning he believes turnout could be as low as 10 percent.

Four candidates are on the ballot at polling places around the city. The top two finishers will face off in the November general election for the right to replace Mayor Mark Mallory, who can't run again because of term limits. 

Democrats John Cranley and Roxanne Qualls are the overwhelming favorites to win the two top spots in today's primary. Also on the ballot are libertarian Jim Berns and independent Sandra Queen Noble. Stacy Smith is running as a write-in candidate. 

You can find your polling place at the board of elections website.

Look for election results tonight at wvxu.org
 

Howard Wilkinson is in his 50th year of covering politics on the local, state and national levels.