2021 Cincinnati mayoral election

The 2021 Cincinnati mayoral election will take place on November 2, 2021, to elect the Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. The election is officially nonpartisan, with the top two candidates from the primary election on May 4, 2021, advancing to the general election, regardless of party. Incumbent Democratic Mayor John Cranley, first elected in 2013, is term-limited and cannot seek reelection to a third consecutive term.

Primary election[]

Candidates[]

Declared[]

Gavi Begtrup (D) – Small business owner, former policy advisor for U.S. Representative from Arizona Gabby Giffords^[1]^[2]
David Mann (D) – City councillor (1974–1992, 2013–present), former Mayor of Cincinnati (1980–1981, 1991–1992), former U.S. Representative from Ohio's 1st congressional district (1993–1995)^[3]
Herman Najoli (I) – Adjunct professor at Indiana Wesleyan University^[4]
Raffel Prophett (D) – Retired firefighter^[4]
Aftab Pureval (D) – Hamilton County Clerk of Courts (2017–present), nominee for Ohio's 1st congressional district in 2018^[5]
Cecil Thomas (D) – State senator for the 9th district (2015–present), former city councillor (2005–2013)^[6]

Disqualified[]

Adam Koehler (I), tech entrepreneur^[7]
Kelli Prather (D), community activist and perennial candidate^[4]
Wendell Young (D), city councillor^[8]

Withdrawn[]

P.G. Sittenfeld (D), city councillor and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016^[9]

Declined[]

Mark Mallory (D), director of community development at FC Cincinnati and former Mayor of Cincinnati^[10]^[11] (Endorsed Aftab Pureval)^[12]
David Pepper (D), former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, former Hamilton County commissioner, and nominee for Attorney General of Ohio in 2014^[11]
Chris Seelbach (D), city councillor^[13]
Christopher Smitherman (I), Vice Mayor and city councillor^[14] (Endorsed David Mann)^[15]

Polling[]

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Gavi Begtrup	David Mann	Herman Najoli	Raffel Prophett	Aftab Pureval	Cecil Thomas	Undecided
Strategic Insights Research	April 9–12, 2021	237 (LV)	± 5.3%	7%	10%	15%	3%	24%	9%	32%

Endorsements[]

hide

Gavi Begtrup (D)

Gabby Giffords, founder of Giffords and former U.S. Representative from Arizona's 8th congressional district (2007–2012)^[12]

hide

David Mann (D)

Kevin Flynn, former city councilor (Independent)^[16]
Steve Goodin, city councilor (Republican)^[16]
Liz Keating, city councilor (Republican)^[16]
Charlie Luken, former Mayor of Cincinnati^[12]
Christopher Smitherman, Vice Mayor and city councillor (Independent)^[15]
Jerry Springer, former Mayor of Cincinnati and host of The Jerry Springer Show^[12]
Betsy Sundermann, city councilor (Republican)^[16]

hide

Aftab Pureval (D)

Mark Mallory, director of community development at FC Cincinnati and former Mayor of Cincinnati^[12]
Charmaine McGuffey, Hamilton County Sheriff^[12]
David Pepper, former Chair of Ohio Democratic Party and former member of Hamilton County Commission^[17]
Jill Schiller, Hamilton County Treasurer-elect^[18]

Results[]

2021 Cincinnati mayoral primary election results^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Aftab Pureval	13,045	39.1
	Nonpartisan	David Mann	9,707	29.1
	Nonpartisan	Cecil Thomas	5,476	16.4
	Nonpartisan	Gavi Begtrup	3,185	9.6
	Nonpartisan	Raffel Prophett	1,165	3.5
	Nonpartisan	Herman Najoli	760	2.3
Total ballots			33,338	100

General election[]

Candidates[]

David Mann, city councillor (Democratic Party)^[19]
Aftab Pureval, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts (Democratic Party)^[19]

Endorsements[]

hide

David Mann (D)

Individuals

Kevin Flynn, former city councilor (Independent)^[16]
Steve Goodin, city councilor (Republican)^[16]
Liz Keating, city councilor (Republican)^[16]
Charlie Luken, former Mayor of Cincinnati^[12]
Christopher Smitherman, Vice Mayor and city councillor (Independent)^[15]
Jerry Springer, former Mayor of Cincinnati and host of The Jerry Springer Show^[12]
Betsy Sundermann, city councilor (Republican)^[16]

hide

Aftab Pureval (D)

Individuals

Mark Mallory, director of community development at FC Cincinnati and former Mayor of Cincinnati^[12]
Charmaine McGuffey, Hamilton County Sheriff^[12]
Jill Schiller, Hamilton County Treasurer-elect^[18]
Raffel Prophett, Retired firefighter, 2021 candidate for Mayor of Cincinnati^[20]
David Pepper, former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, former Hamilton County commissioner, and former Cincinnati city councillor^[21]
Mike Moroski, Cincinnati school board member ^[22]

Labor Unions

Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council^[23]
Cincinnati Federation of Teachers^[24]
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 212^[25]
Laborers Local 265^[26]
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 ^[27]
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 75 ^[27]
Cincinnati Building Trades Union ^[28]

Organizations

Our Revolution^[29]

Fundraising[]

Campaign finance reports as of June 15, 2021
Candidate	Total raised	Cash on hand
David Mann	$172,330	$22,483
Aftab Pureval	$593,275	$73,277
^[30]

Results[]

2021 Cincinnati mayoral general election results
Party		Candidate	%
	Nonpartisan	David Mann
	Nonpartisan	Aftab Pureval
Total ballots			100
	Democratic hold

Notes[]

^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

References[]

^ "Gavi for Cincy". Gavi for Cincy. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
^ Coolidge, Sharon. "Meet Gavi Begtrup: A scientist and start-up founder running for Cincinnati mayor". The Enquirer. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
^ Merritt, Jennifer (May 26, 2020). "David Mann Running For Cincinnati Mayor". www.wvxu.org. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Goffinet, Jared. "Race for Cincinnati's next mayor down to 6". www.fox19.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
^ "Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval announces Cincinnati mayoral run". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
^ Wilkinson, Howard. "What To Watch In Ohio Politics In 2021, From Cincinnati On Up". www.wvxu.org. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
^ Goffinet, Jared. "Koehler doesn't meet signature requirement needed for 2021 mayoral race, BOE says". www.fox19.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
^ "Article". Cincinnati.com. February 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.(subscription required)
^ Staff, WLWT Digital (February 18, 2021). "P.G. Sittenfeld announces he will no longer run for mayor amid federal corruption case". WLWT. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ Coolidge, Sharon (January 26, 2021). "Mark Mallory, David Pepper won't run for Cincinnati mayor". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Planalp, Brian. "2 political heavyweights say they won't run for mayor of Cincinnati". www.fox19.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Coolidge, Sharon. "Former mayors weigh in on possible new mayors: Mark Mallory for Aftab Pureval; Charlie Luken for David Mann". The Enquirer. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ Staff, WLWT Digital (February 17, 2021). "Chris Seelbach will not run for mayor of Cincinnati". WLWT. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ Staff, WLWT Digital (February 18, 2021). "Chris Smitherman will not enter Cincinnati's 2021 mayoral race". WLWT. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Coolidge, Sharon. "Former mayors weigh in on possible new mayors: Mark Mallory for Aftab Pureval; Charlie Luken for David Mann". The Enquirer. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Wilkinson, Howard. "Analysis: Can Democrat David Mann Succeed In Mayoral Primary By Wooing GOP Voters?". www.wvxu.org. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ Dutt, Ela. "Aftab Pureval, running for Cincinnati mayor, gets major endorsement". Retrieved June 24, 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Jill Schiller [@jillschill] (March 3, 2021). "I'm proud to support my friend @AftabPureval as he works to become our next mayor. He'll work hard for all of us!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Ohio election results: Cincinnati mayor primary, Issue 3 and more".
^ Pureval, Aftab. "Raffel Prophett, a former candidate for Mayor, has endorsed my campaign!". Twitter.com. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
^ https://www.newsindiatimes.com/aftab-pureval-running-for-cincinnati-mayor-gets-major-endorsement/
^ Moroski, Mike. "Tweet". Twitter.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
^ Pureval, Aftab. "Endorsement". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
^ "@cincyteachers". Twitter.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
^ Pureval, Aftab. "Endorsement". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
^ Pureval, Aftab. "Endorsement". Twitter.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Pureval, Aftab. "Tweet". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
^ Pureval, Aftab. "Tweet". Twitter.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
^ "Endorsements".
^ https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/06/15/cincinnati-mayoral-race-whos-ahead-as-campaign-en.html

External links[]

Official campaign websites

[Key-16] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[1] "Gavi for Cincy". Gavi for Cincy. Retrieved January 16, 2021.

[2] Coolidge, Sharon. "Meet Gavi Begtrup: A scientist and start-up founder running for Cincinnati mayor". The Enquirer. Retrieved January 27, 2021.

[3] Merritt, Jennifer (May 26, 2020). "David Mann Running For Cincinnati Mayor". www.wvxu.org. Retrieved September 9, 2020.

[Goffinet-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Goffinet, Jared. "Race for Cincinnati's next mayor down to 6". www.fox19.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.

[5] "Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval announces Cincinnati mayoral run". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved January 15, 2021.

[6] Wilkinson, Howard. "What To Watch In Ohio Politics In 2021, From Cincinnati On Up". www.wvxu.org. Retrieved January 1, 2021.

[7] Goffinet, Jared. "Koehler doesn't meet signature requirement needed for 2021 mayoral race, BOE says". www.fox19.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.

[8] "Article". Cincinnati.com. February 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.(subscription required)

[9] Staff, WLWT Digital (February 18, 2021). "P.G. Sittenfeld announces he will no longer run for mayor amid federal corruption case". WLWT. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

[possiblegood10-10] Coolidge, Sharon (January 26, 2021). "Mark Mallory, David Pepper won't run for Cincinnati mayor". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved January 26, 2021.

[2_candidates-11] Jump up to: ^a ^b Planalp, Brian. "2 political heavyweights say they won't run for mayor of Cincinnati". www.fox19.com.

[former_mayors-12] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Coolidge, Sharon. "Former mayors weigh in on possible new mayors: Mark Mallory for Aftab Pureval; Charlie Luken for David Mann". The Enquirer. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[13] Staff, WLWT Digital (February 17, 2021). "Chris Seelbach will not run for mayor of Cincinnati". WLWT. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

[14] Staff, WLWT Digital (February 18, 2021). "Chris Smitherman will not enter Cincinnati's 2021 mayoral race". WLWT. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

[:0-15] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Coolidge, Sharon. "Former mayors weigh in on possible new mayors: Mark Mallory for Aftab Pureval; Charlie Luken for David Mann". The Enquirer. Retrieved May 1, 2021.

[mann-17] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Wilkinson, Howard. "Analysis: Can Democrat David Mann Succeed In Mayoral Primary By Wooing GOP Voters?". www.wvxu.org. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[18] Dutt, Ela. "Aftab Pureval, running for Cincinnati mayor, gets major endorsement". Retrieved June 24, 2021.

[schiller-19] Jump up to: ^a ^b Jill Schiller [@jillschill] (March 3, 2021). "I'm proud to support my friend @AftabPureval as he works to become our next mayor. He'll work hard for all of us!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[general_results-20] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Ohio election results: Cincinnati mayor primary, Issue 3 and more".

[21] Pureval, Aftab. "Raffel Prophett, a former candidate for Mayor, has endorsed my campaign!". Twitter.com. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

[22] ttps://www.newsindiatimes.com/aftab-pureval-running-for-cincinnati-mayor-gets-major-endorsement/

[23] Moroski, Mike. "Tweet". Twitter.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

[24] Pureval, Aftab. "Endorsement". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 13, 2021.

[25] "@cincyteachers". Twitter.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.

[26] Pureval, Aftab. "Endorsement". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 1, 2021.

[27] Pureval, Aftab. "Endorsement". Twitter.com.

[Tweet-28] Jump up to: ^a ^b Pureval, Aftab. "Tweet". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.

[29] Pureval, Aftab. "Tweet". Twitter.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.

[30] "Endorsements".

[31] ttps://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/06/15/cincinnati-mayoral-race-whos-ahead-as-campaign-en.html

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[a]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

show v t (2020 ←) 2021 United States elections (→ 2022)
U.S. Senate	Georgia Georgia (special)
U.S. House	Louisiana 2nd sp 5th sp New Mexico 1st sp Ohio 11th sp 15th sp Texas 6th sp
Governors	California (recall) New Jersey Virginia Lt. Gov
Attorneys general	Virginia
State legislatures	Michigan Senate New Jersey Assembly Senate Virginia House
Mayors	Albany, NY Albuquerque, NM Alexandria, VA Allentown, PA Anchorage, AK Arlington, TX Atlanta, GA Birmingham, AL Boston, MA Buffalo, NY Burlington, VT Cincinnati, OH Cleveland, OH Detroit, MI Fort Worth, TX Harrisburg, PA Jackson, MS Lansing, MI Manchester, NH Miami, FL Minneapolis, MN Mobile, AL New Haven, CT New Orleans, LA New York, NY North Miami, FL Omaha, NE Pittsburgh, PA Rochester, NY Saint Paul, MN San Antonio, TX Seattle, WA Springfield, MO St. Louis, MO St. Petersburg, FL Stamford, CT Syracuse, NY Toledo, OH Worcester, MA
Local	Boston, MA Dallas, TX Minneapolis, MN New York, NY Borough presidents Comptroller Council Public Advocate New York County, NY Plano, TX Seattle, WA
States and territories	Alabama Alaska California Connecticut Florida Georgia Louisiana Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Pennsylvania Texas Vermont Virginia Wisconsin