Mayoral election in Cincinnati, Ohio (2017)
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| 2017 Cincinnati mayoral elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: February 16, 2017 |
| Primary election: May 2, 2017 General election: November 7, 2017 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Mayor and city council |
| Total seats up: 10 (click here for other city elections) |
| Election type: Nonpartisan |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2017 |
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, held an election for the mayor's office on November 7, 2017. Mayor John Cranley ran for a second four-year term against Yvette Simpson, a member of the Cincinnati City Council. Cranley was re-elected with 54 percent of the vote. The mayorship is a nonpartisan position, but both candidates were considered Democrats.[1]
Cranley was elected mayor in 2013 and previously served on the city council from 2000 to 2009. Simpson was elected to the city council in 2011. Cranley's campaign raised and spent more money than Simpson's. In the pre-general reporting period, which spanned July 1, 2017, to October 18, 2017, Cranley received over $900,000, while Simpson received about $250,000.
Cincinnati also held an election for nine city council seats and four local ballot measures; click here for more information about those races. In the primary election on May 2, 2017, Mayor Cranley and Councilwoman Simpson took the top two spots, eliminating Rob Richardson. Simpson received 45 percent of the vote, while Cranley took in 34 percent.The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 16, 2017.[2]
Elections
General election
Candidates
☑ Mayor John Cranley (i)
☐ Councilwoman Yvette Simpson
Results
| Mayor of Cincinnati, General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 John Cranley Incumbent |
53.52% | 33,446 |
| Yvette Simpson | 46.48% | 29,045 |
| Total Votes | 62,491 | |
| Source: Hamilton County Board of Elections, "2017 General Election Official Results," November 22, 2017 | ||
Primary election
Candidates
☑ Mayor John Cranley (i)
☐ Rob Richardson
☑ Councilwoman Yvette Simpson
Results
| Mayor of Cincinnati, Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Yvette Simpson |
45.16% | 10,702 |
| John Cranley Incumbent |
34.39% | 8,150 |
| Rob Richardson | 20.45% | 4,846 |
| Total Votes | 23,698 | |
| Source: Hamilton County Board of Elections, "2017 Primary Election Results," accessed May 19, 2017 | ||
Campaign finance
The following tables show campaign finance information submitted by mayoral candidates for the pre-primary, post-primary, and pre-general reports. Pre-primary reports were due on April 20, 2017, post-primary reports were due on June 9, 2017, and pre-general reports were due on October 26, 2017.[3][4]
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Ohio elections, 2017
The general election for mayor of Cincinnati shared the ballot with general elections for nine seats on the Cincinnati City Council, eight seats on the Hamilton County Municipal Court, four seats on the Cincinnati Public Schools school board, and a statewide ballot measure.
Voters in Cincinnati may also have been asked to vote to authorize the sale of alcohol at specific times and at specific locations if an establishment in his or her precinct had requested that this be approved. These elections only impacted certain precincts and did not necessarily appear on all voters' ballots.
Issues
Endorsements
The table below shows endorsements for the 2017 Cincinnati mayoral election.
| Endorsements for Cincinnati mayoral candidates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Endorsement | John Cranley | Yvette Simpson | |
| Ohio Democratic Party[5] |  |
||
| Charter Committee of Greater Cincinnati[6] | | ||
| Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus[7] | | ||
| Partnership Of Westside Residents PAC[8] | |
||
| Former Mayor Mark Mallory[9] | | ||
| Democracy for America[10] | | ||
| The Collective PAC[11] | | ||
| Vote Pro Choice[12] | | ||
| Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council[13] | |
||
| American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 8[14] | |
||
| International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 212[15] | |
||
| Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 392[15] | |
||
| Fraternal Order of Police[16] | |
||
| Cincinnati Fire Fighters Union Local 48[17] | |
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Streetcar
The streetcar in Cincinnati, called the Cincinnati Bell Connector, was a popular topic leading up to the mayoral primary election and a clear distinguisher between Mayor John Cranley and his challengers, Councilwoman Yvette Simpson and Rob Richardson.
The streetcar's route is a 3.6-mile loop connecting downtown, the riverfront, and Over-the-Rhine, and it opened to the public in September 2016.[18][19] The city council approved a $137 million plan for the project in 2008. Debates ensued over whether it was a good or bad thing for the city. Voters defeated ballot measures in 2009 and 2011 that sought to prevent the streetcar from being built. Amid struggles with funding and the project's timeline, Cranley campaigned against the streetcar and was elected mayor in November 2013. Within Cranley's first month in office, the city council voted 5-4 to pause construction on the streetcar indefinitely. After public criticism and the release of a study that said the city would be out between $50 million and $80 million if they cancelled the project, the council voted 6-3 to resume construction.[20]
In 2017, Cranley maintained that the streetcar had not been a good use of money. "Watch your wallet! Both my opponents want to spend another $150-$200 million expanding the streetcar," he said during a debate in March 2017.[21] He released ads accusing Councilwoman Simpson of supporting the streetcar instead of spending more money on public safety.[22]
Both Simpson and Richardson expressed support for the streetcar project. Simpson said she would be open to expanding the route. "Rail is the future," she said. Richardson said he wanted to improve the city's transit, including the streetcar and the bus system. "The streetcar is not doing as well as it should be. Who's in charge of that?" he said. He continued, "If you wanna be a cheerleader for failure and do everything possible to make it fail, of course it's gonna fail."[21]
Campaign videos
Cranley
Simpson
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About the city
- See also: Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio. As of 2010, its population was 296,943.
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government and Council-manager government
The city government of Cincinnati blends elements of the strong-mayor and council-manager systems. While the mayor serves as the city's chief executive officer and the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body, a city-manager, whom the mayor appoints and the city council approves, serves as the city's chief administrative officer.[23]
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
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| Demographic Data for Cincinnati, Ohio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | Ohio | |
| Population | 296,943 | 11,536,504 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 77 | 40,858 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 50.7% | 81.3% |
| Black/African American | 42.3% | 12.4% |
| Asian | 2.2% | 2.2% |
| Native American | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.1% | 0% |
| Two or more | 3.7% | 2.9% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 88.1% | 90.4% |
| College graduation rate | 37.1% | 28.3% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $40,640 | $56,602 |
| Persons below poverty level | 26.3% | 14% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2010). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2014-2019). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Cincinnati mayoral election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Cincinnati, Ohio | Ohio | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ WVXU.com, "A Closer Look At Candidates In Cincinnati's Mayoral Primary," April 19, 2017
- ↑ Hamilton County Board of Elections, "2017 Election Schedule," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ Anna Wendland, "Email communication with the Hamilton County Board of Elections," April 21, 2017
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "2017 Ohio Campaign Finance Reporting Calendar," accessed November 1, 2017
- ↑ Cincinnati.com, "Ohio Democrats endorse Cranley in decisive vote," January 11, 2017
- ↑ Charter Committee of Greater Cincinnati, accessed May 22, 2017
- ↑ Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus, "Endorsements," accessed July 12, 2017
- ↑ WVXU, "West Side PAC Will Try To Flex Its Muscles in Cincinnati Election," September 3, 2017
- ↑ Cincinnati Business Courier, "Mallory endorses in Cincinnati mayoral race," August 22, 2017
- ↑ Democraty for America, "Our candidates," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ The Collective Political Action Committee, "Candidates," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ VoteProChoice, "Candidates," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ Cincinnati.com, "Cranley lands another big endorsement," March 1, 2017
- ↑ John Cranley campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cincinnati Business Courier, "As another foe enters mayor's race, Cranley asks, ‘Who really is the Democrat?’" January 3, 2017
- ↑ Cincinnati.com, "FOP endorses for city council, skips 2 retired officers," August 24, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcranleyendorse - ↑ Cincinnati Bell Connector, "Overview," accessed April 26, 2017
- ↑ WVXU, "Cincinnati's Streetcar Is Open For Business," September 9, 2016
- ↑ Cincinnati.com, "Streetcar timeline: Long, winding, arduous journey," September 9, 2016
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 FOX 19, "Mayor election could decide streetcar's future," April 17, 2017
- ↑ Cincinnati.com, "Are John Cranley's 'trolley' attack ads on Yvette Simpson true?" April 22, 2017
- ↑ Cincinnati City Charter, Art. 2.1-3; 3.1-3; 4.1-3, accessed October 27, 2014
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