2017 Cincinnati mayor's race

Here are some random observations on Tuesday's election – but by no means the last word on the subject.

You may think it is done, but it's not quite time to stick a fork in this election. There's a Cincinnati city council seat where 321 votes separate Republican Jeff Pastor and Democrat Michelle Dillingham for the ninth and final seat; and the fourth available seat on the Cincinnati Board of Education (100 votes separate incumbent Melanie Bates and challenger Rene Hevia).

John Cranley has won another four years as Cincinnati's mayor in a romp over Council Member Yvette Simpson.

Hamilton County election officials expect that state Issue 2  - not the mayoral or council races - will account for a possible spike in Cincinnati's election turnout Tuesday.

Some final, very random, thoughts on Tuesday's election:

Mega-bucks mayoral race: Does it really take something in the neighborhood of $3 million to get re-elected mayor, in little old Cincinnati, the 65th largest city in the United States?

Mark Mallory is a fellow who plays his cards close to his vest.

The former mayor really hasn't been heard from much since he finished up his eight years as mayor nearly four years ago; and when he does say something publicly chooses the occasions carefully.

But now he's stepping out front again; and testing one of the age-old arguments of politics – do endorsements mean anything to voters?

Cincinnati's mayoral candidates, incumbent John Cranley and challenger Yvette Simpson, spent an hour in a roomful of business leaders Tuesday taking rather low-keyed swipes at each other.

Their differences were over such issues as regional transportation, the streetcar, the Children's Hospital Medical Center expansion and development issues.

That Cincinnati mayoral primary in which the incumbent, John Cranley, lost by 10 percentage points to Council Member Yvette Simpson is now in the rear-view mirror.

Immediately after it was over, Cranley and his campaign vowed to mend their ways and spend more time and effort engaging voters one-on-one and ramping up their grassroots efforts, instead of depending solely on dumping a small fortune into 30-second TV ads which, frankly, many voters tune out as background noise.

Cincinnati Council settled a dispute today over how an extra $350,000 in human services money would be spent.

It's quite the challenge to draw conclusions from an election where only 11 percent of the eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot.

Such was the case Tuesday in that sizzling hot three-way primary for Cincinnati mayor.

It's not particularly surprising that Council Member Yvette Simpson and incumbent Mayor John Cranley came out of Tuesday's primary election as the two candidates who will battle in November.

Voters in Cincinnati will go the polls Tuesday to choose this fall's contenders for the mayor's job; and voters in several other southwest Ohio communities will decide ballot issue and tax levies.

Tuesday, Cincinnatians will do it again.

They will go to the polls and take the first step in a two-tiered process of selecting a mayor – a direct election system that has only been in place since 2001.