Cincinnati voters will choose from among 23 candidates for nine seats on Cincinnati City Council in the November election.
There will be three open seats in this election – those of Republican Charlie Winburn, who is term-limited out; Democrat Yvette Simpson, who is running for mayor; and Kevin Flynn of the Charter Committee, who decided not to run for re-election.
That, of course, means there will be at least three new members of council after this election.
The Hamilton County Board of Elections finished checking candidates' petitions Tuesday, and will formally certify them for the ballot Wednesday.
Four would-be candidates – Theo Barnes, Herschal Chalk Jr., Peterson W. Mingo, and Beverly J. Odoms – failed to make the ballot because they did not have the required 500 signatures of Cincinnati voters.
The city council election is non-partisan, as is the mayor's race. No party designations will appear on the ballot.
But the city's three major political parties – the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Charter Committee – endorse slates of candidates who they promote.
The candidates on the ballot include six incumbents – Democrats David Mann, Chris Seelbach, Wendell Young and P.G. Sittenfeld; one Republican, Amy Murray; and one independent, Christopher Smitherman.
The Democrats have also endorsed non-incumbents Ozie Davis, Tamaya Dennard, Lesley Jones, Michelle Dillingham, and Greg Landsman.
The Republican Party has endorsed Murray, and newcomers Jeff Pastor and Seth Maney.
The Charter Committee endorses its own candidates along with giving endorsements to candidates of other parties. This year, Charterites have endorsed Derek Bauman and Henry Frondorf, along with Democrats Mann and Dennard, and Republican Murray.
The candidates running without endorsements from the Democrats, Republicans or Charter Committee are Laure Quinlivan, Tamie Sullivan, Kelli Prather, Tonya Dumas, Brian Garry, Manuel Foggie, Cristina Burcica, and Erica L. Black-Johnson.
Gwen Marshall, co-chair of the Hamilton County Green Party, said her party has issued endorsements to two council challengers, Sullivan and Garry, and one incumbent, Smitherman.
