A field of 22 candidates filed petitions by Thursday's 4 p.m. deadline to run for nine Cincinnati City Council seats in the Nov. 5 election.
Board of Elections officials said late Thursday afternoon they were still checking the petitions of four of those candidates to see if they have the required 500 valid signatures of Cincinnati voters to qualify for the ballot.
At least one new council member will be elected in November, because Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls is running for mayor.
There are no party designations on the ballot, but the Democratic Party has endorsed 10 candidates, while the Republican Party has endorsed four. The Charter Committee has six endorsed candidates. Four of the Charter candidates have endorsements from other parties - Amy Murray (Republican), David Mann (Democratic), Greg Landsman (Democratic), and incumbent Yvette Simpson, a Democrat.
All eight incumbents are running for re-election - Republican Charlie Winburn, independent Christopher Smitherman, Laure Quinlivan, Chris Seelbach, Simpson, Pam Thomas, P.G. Sittenfeld and Wendell Young. The Democrats have also endorsed challenger Michelle Dillingham.
The board was still checking the petitions of Republican endorsed candidate Sam Malone Thursday. The Republicans are also running first-time candidate Melissa Wegman.
The Charter Committee has given endorsements to Kevin Flynn and Vanessa White, a Cincinnati school board member.
The independent candidates who filed are Angela Beamon, Timothy Joseph Dornbusch, Kevin Johnson, Mike Moroski, and Nick Noel.
The top nine finishers in the November field race will become the new city council on Dec. 1.
