Cincinnati City Council member Meeka Owens has a chance at becoming a Hamilton County commissioner after successfully beating incumbent Stephanie Summerow Dumas in Tuesday's Democratic primary election.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Owens has 51.93% of the vote in the three-way race, about 7,000 votes ahead of Summerow Dumas (41.03%) and Herman Najoli (7.04%).
Owens says she wants to expand Cincinnati's eviction prevention program throughout the county, build more housing and focus on climate action.
"Everybody wants to live in a safe community, a community where there's greenspace, school districts that are thriving," Owens told WVXU. "We all want the same things — now it's up to people like myself to deliver on those."
Summerow Dumas will finish out her second term through the end of 2026. She declined to say what she might do after that and says she's focused on the rest of her term.
"Just completing the tasks that I have in front of me, looking at the budget. I'm still the president of the Board," she said. "I brought history with me, and I'll take it with me when I go."
Summerow Dumas says the results both surprised and didn't surprise her, calling out "dirty politics" during the campaign.
Owens says she ran a clean campaign, but says her opponent made "personal insults."
Owens will face Jonathan Pearson in November, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary. No one filed to run as an independent candidate in November before the May 4 deadline, according to the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
Owens is favored to win, since Hamilton County has had an all-Democratic Board since Summerow Dumas first won her seat in 2018.
The general election is Nov. 3. The four-year term will begin Jan. 1, 2027.
Owens says she will continue to work for Cincinnati residents while she serves on City Council.
"It is not about leaving Cincinnati, it's about growing all of us together," Owens said. "And Cincinnati has led on so many issues. So if I am given the opportunity to serve at this level, I will be looking at the city of Cincinnati as a place to continue to build upon, but then bringing 48 other jurisdictions alongside."
What would happen to Owens' City Council seat?
If Owens wins in November, she will have to resign from her position on Cincinnati City Council before taking office on Hamilton County Commission.
Per the city charter, her "successor designee" would choose someone to complete the rest of her Council term, which goes through the end of 2027. Owens has chosen Council members Seth Walsh and Evan Nolan for that job, but she could change that at any time.
Walsh is also running for another elected office — he'll be on the November ballot for Ohio Treasurer.
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