Nine people running for Cincinnati City Council received a valuable endorsement from the Democratic Party Wednesday night. Eight of the nine current council members got the endorsement, plus political newcomer Ryan James.
An endorsement from the Hamilton County Democratic Party is a significant boost on Election Day; in the last Council election in 2023, all nine endorsed Democrats were elected. Incumbent Victoria Parks is not running for re-election, which opened a spot on the slate.
"I've had a long career of working in social services and understanding the real economic barriers our communities are facing, even more so now, as our dollars are stretched further and further, as the cost of living skyrockets," James told WVXU. "I'm really excited to fight for economic opportunity for the residents of the city of Cincinnati."
James is the Director of Strategy at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. His campaign website shares his story of experiencing homelessness as a child with his single mother. He lives in the West End.
Evan Nolan will appear on the ballot for the first time; he took office late last year to complete the term of Reggie Harris, who resigned to take a job in the Biden administration. That appointment sparked some community backlash because it flipped the council from majority Black to majority white.
Chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party Alex Linser says the power of the endorsement in this local race is thanks to candidates delivering progressive policies for Cincinnatians. Still, he acknowledges the nine endorsed Democrats face opposition from other candidates amid vocal opposition to the zoning reform, Connected Communities, as well as a recent controversial development on Hyde Park Square.
"We have Democrats on council who voted both ways on those issues, and there's room for disagreement within our party on those types of things," Linser said. "One of the things we stand for, and we will continue to stand for, is that this city needs more housing, and so while we might not always agree on how that gets done, the Democratic Party is committed to breaking the housing shortage in this city and bringing housing prices down."
Candidates must have signatures from 500 registered city voters to get on the ballot; 36 people total have pulled petitions to gather signatures, and the deadline for submission is in August.
Ten candidates in total interviewed for a Democratic endorsement, and two others have already filed enough signatures to make it to the ballot: Jerry Corbett and Kevin Farmer.
The party also formally endorsed incumbent Aftab Pureval in the mayoral race; no other Democrats are running. Pureval will face Republican Cory Bowman in the November election.
Endorsement process
About 50 Democratic precinct executives met Wednesday night to vote on the recommendations of a nominating committee made up of members of the Cincinnati Democratic Committee and the Hamilton County Democratic Party Executive Committee.
The group first individually voted on the nine endorsement recommendations in alphabetical order. Ryan James was third on the list; Parks attempted to halt the nomination, protesting that she wanted Raffel Prophett to be nominated instead.
"I'm offended. I had picked Raffel Prophett to run in my place," Parks said before the vote on James' nomination. "He is a retired firefighter, a retired veteran. I respect him. He's a family man. He's raised more money than anybody, and he was not endorsed. I'm so offended I don't know what to do."
Prophett is a retired Cincinnati Fire Department district chief and a retired Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. He is the only other candidate who interviewed for an endorsement.
Prophett also addressed the room, saying Parks encouraged him to run and he wants to be on Council to represent veterans and first responders. "I am a Black man born and raised here in Cincinnati, not a transport from the suburbs," Prophett said. "I want to invest more in our children and families."
James then pitched his candidacy to the party, saying, "I wasn't asked to run — I wasn't kicked off the couch by any member in this room. I have dedicated my career to economically empowering the citizens of Cincinnati ... I am so passionate about this work and I have a vision for the city."
James' endorsement went through unanimously despite the objections, as did the other eight votes.
A few members then moved to endorse Prophett as a tenth candidate; that motion required a two-thirds majority to pass, and it failed with 13 votes in favor, 37 votes opposed, and two abstentions.
"I'm glad the committee chose to only endorse nine candidates," Linser told WVXU. "Endorsing 10 candidates for nine seats is confusing to voters; it dilutes the power of our endorsement. And also, if somebody were to vote for 10 candidates, that would be recorded as an overvote, and none of their votes would count. We don't want to risk confusing voters with a slate that's longer than we have room for."
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