The Cincinnati City Council is the lawmaking body of Cincinnati, Ohio. The nine-member city council is elected at-large in a single election in which each voter chooses nine candidates from the field. The nine top vote-getters win seats on the council for a two-year term.
Until the charter of 1925, the council comprised 32 members—six elected at-large and 26 elected from single-member wards. The 1925 charter instituted the present nine-member council elected in a single non-partisan, at-large election. From 1925 to 1955, elections were under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation.[1] The mayor was chosen by the council from among its members. In the 1970s, the system was changed so that the top vote-getter in the council election automatically became mayor. Since 2001, the mayor is chosen in a separate election.
Although the election officially is non-partisan, the local Charterite party and three of the major political parties (Democratic, Republican, and Green Party) all endorse candidates in the race. Party designations, however, can be fluid. After the 1997 election, for example, Democrats Minette Cooper and Dwight Tillery formed a majority coalition on the council with Republicans Charlie Winburn, Phil Heimlich, and Jeanette Cissell.
Prior to 2013, council members were elected for two-year terms. In 2013, a referendum was passed changing City Council to four-year terms. In 2018, two competing proposals were placed on the ballot to modify the structure of the City Council yet again. Issue 10 would bring back two-year terms; Issue 11 would keep four-year terms but stagger them, such that five council members would be elected in a mayoral election year, and four council members would be elected two years later.[2] Issue 10 passed with a larger margin of victory, and the City Council returned to two-year terms beginning with the 2021 election.
The next city council election is scheduled for November 2025.
Cincinnati City Council Members
Council Member
Party
First Elected
Other Positions
Notes
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney
Democrat
2020 (Appointed)
Vice Mayor
Replaced Tamaya Dennard on March 11, 2020, who resigned after federal charges of bribery.[3]
Chris Bortz (C): 22,805 Kevin Flynn (C): 22,631 Amy Murray (R): 22,096 Leslie Ghiz (R): 21,391 Jason Riveiro (D): 19,025 Wayne Lippert (R): 18,973 Mike Allen (I): 17,167 Nicholas Hollan (D): 15,309 Catherine Smith Mills (R): 13,913 Pat McCollum (I): 6,497 Kathy Atkinson (I): 5,220 Jacqueline Allen (I): 4,829 Sandra Queen Noble (I): 2,890 Orlando Welborn (I): 34
2009
Roxanne Qualls (C, D):[6] 43,513 Cecil Thomas (D): 35,690 Chris Bortz (C): 32,911 Jeff Berding (I):[7] 30,509 Leslie Ghiz (R): 30,050 Chris Monzel (R): 29,786 Charlie Winburn (R): 29,055 Y. Laketa Cole (D): 28,976 Laure Quinlivan (D): 28,775
Greg Harris (D):[8] 25,216 Bernadette Watson (D): 24,985 Amy Murray (R): 23,667 Kevin Flynn (C): 23,619 Wendell Young (D): 22,100 Tony Fischer (D): 21,742 Nicholas Hollan (D): 18,096 George Zamary (R): 12,834 Anitra Brockman (G): 8,071 LaMarque Ward (I): 7,806
2007
Roxanne Qualls (C):[9] 33,775 John Cranley (D): 33,772 David Crowley (D): 31,124 Cecil Thomas (D): 27,103 Chris Bortz (C): 26,500 Leslie Ghiz (R): 24,920 Y. Laketa Cole (D): 24,900 Jeff Berding (D): 23,586 Chris Monzel (R): 23,336
Charlie Winburn (R): 22,080 Minette Cooper (D): 18,941 Sam Malone (R): 17,486 Melanie Bates (C): 15,376 Pat Fischer (R): 15,084 Greg Harris (D): 14,184 John Eby (R): 14,025 Wendell Young (D): 13,963 Brian Garry (D): 13,164 Joan Kaup (C): 8,476 Andre Harper (R): 7,499 Justin Jeffre (G): 7,371 Mitch Painter (I): 5,140 Steve Pavelish (I): 4,213 Michael Earl Patton (I): 3,149 George Zamary (I): 2,203
2005
John Cranley (D): 35,603 James R. Tarbell (C): 32,392 Y. Laketa Cole (D): 29,966 David Crowley (D): 29,856 Leslie Ghiz (R): 29,758 Jeff Berding (D): 28,344 Chris Monzel (R):[10] 27,911 Chris Bortz (C): 27,304 Cecil Thomas (D): 27,091
Sam Malone (R): 25,838 Christopher Smitherman (C/G): 24,642 Damon Lynch III (D): 22,556 Wendell Young (D): 21,505 Eve Bolton (D): 19,729 John Eby (R): 16,272 Samantha Herd (D): 14,306 Nick Spencer (C): 9,462 Paul Mcghee (I): 5,407 Gerry Kraus (I): 4,719 William S. "Stew" Mathews II (I): 3,915 Robert J. Wilking (I): 3,762 Ishaq Nadir (I): 3,208 Eric Wilson (I): 3,082 Michael Earl Patton (I): 2,770 Curtis Wells (I): 2,482 Robert Wilson (I): 2,319 Ronnie T. Stallworth (I): 2,271 Bill Barron (I): 1,849 Bennie Green (I): 1,800 Victor Phillips (I): 1,695 Antonio Hodge (I): 1,276
Damon Lynch III (I): 21,764 Leslie Ghiz (R): 19,916 Chris Monzel (R): 19,197 Barbara W. Trauth (I): 17,480 John Connelly (I): 14,047 Pete Witte (I): 13,479 Terry Deters (I): 11,889 John F. Schlagetter (C): 11,420 Tom Jones (I): 10,441 Samuel T. Britton (I): 9,778 Howard H. Bond (I): 8,260 Nick Spencer (C): 7,378 Marilyn Hyland (I): 5,864 Brian Garry (G): 5,504 Eric Wilson (I): 2,686 Glenn O. Givens Sr. (I): 2,327 Larry J. Frazier (I): 2,323
2001
David Pepper (D): 45,174 R. Patrick DeWine (R): 43,191 Alicia Reece (D): 43,180 Minette Cooper (D): 38,040 John Cranley (D):[12] 36,998 James R. Tarbell (C): 35,533 David Crowley: (D): 33,225 Paul Booth (D): 27,732 Chris Monzel (R):[13] 26,479
Y. Laketa Cole (D): 24,567 Todd Ward (R): 23,895 Sam Malone (R): 23,211 Jane Anderson (I): 21,026 Akiva Freeman (I): 19,788 Dawn Denno (I): 19,598 Lawra Baumann (I): 17,686 Ken Anderson (I): 15,119 Clarence D. Williams III (I): 14,371 Nathaniel Livingston Jr. (I): 12,735 Tom Jones (I): 12,235 John F. Schlagetter (C): 10,269 William Kirkland (I): 6,211 Theo Barnes (I): 4,795 Eric Wilson (I): 4,376 Wes Flinn (I): 3,682 Toni Andrews (I): 3,651
1999
Mayor: Charles J. Luken (D): 42,022 Todd Portune (D): 36,333 Charlie Winburn (R): 34,176 Phil Heimlich (R): 31,487 Alicia Reece (D): 27,900 R. Patrick DeWine (R): 27,745 James R. Tarbell (C):[14] 26,045 Minette Cooper (D): 25,277 Paul Booth (D): 22,667
Jeanette Cissell (R): 22,095 Diane Goldsmith (R): 21,250 Scott V. Seidewitz (D): 20,389 Kaye M. Britton (D): 19,300 Forrest L. Buckley (D): 19,248 Jane Anderson (I): 17,297 Ken Anderson (I): 15,433 Chris Monzel (R): 9,335 Sam Malone (I): 5,030 Theo Barnes (I): 4,885 Charlie Lee Gardner (I): 3,312
1997
Mayor: Roxanne Qualls (D): 50,560 Dwight Tillery (D): 45,238 Todd Portune (D): 42,721 Charlie Winburn (R): 39,913 Bobbie L. Sterne (C): 39,529 Phil Heimlich (R): 37,896 Tyrone Yates (D): 35,592 Minette Cooper (D): 35,451 Jeanette Cissell (R):[15] 34,209
James R. Tarbell (C): 33,867 Forrest Buckley (D): 25,357 Diane Goldsmith (R): 22,676 Kaye Britton (D): 20,724 Rosemary Meyer (R): 18,976 Todd Ward (R): 18,438 Bryn Lewis (C): 10,135 William Gaz (R): 9,213 Theo Barnes (I): 6,051
Jeannette Cissell (R): 31,960 Mark Longabaugh (D): 30,969 John Kruse (R): 28,098 John Mirlisena (D): 27,379 Diane Goldsmith (R): 26,627 Norman Murdock (R): 24,369 Don Driehaus (D): 22,961 Elwood Cromwell III (R): 9,109 John Henry Simmons (I): 4,354
John Mirlisena (D): 32,915 Virginia Rhodes (D): 29,327 Jeannette Cissell (R): 27,504 Martin Wade (R): 26,224 Anne Power (R): 25,232 John Kruse (R): 24,713 Nell D. Surber (R): 23,714 Eric Kearney (C): 23,138 Val Sena (C): 18,131 Matthew Rosen (D): 15,851 Barbara Milton (D): 14,078 Pat Clifford (I): 7,759
Nick Vehr (R): 33,277 Virginia Rhodes (D): 32,240 Nell D. Surber (R): 27,281 William Al'Uqdah (R): 21,846 Martin Wade (R): 19,993 Shirley Rosser (D): 18,189 Jay Andress (R): 16,807 Mary Ann Brown (R): 15,290 Val Sena (C): 14,886 Len Garrett (R): 12,365 Richard L. Buchanan (D): 11,655 Chaunston Brown (D): 10,461 Todd O'Neal (I): 9,684 John Cheng (I): 6,866 Claudia Miller (I): 6,337 Anita F. Bolce (I): 6,712 Dennis L. Maxberry (I): 3,336
Notes
^Barber, Kathleen. Proportional Representation and Election Reform in Ohio. Ohio State University Press, 1995.
