Cincinnati City Council

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 four-year term.

Cincinnati City Council
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Vice Mayor	Christopher Smitherman, Independent since January 2, 2018
President Pro Tempore	Chris Seelbach, Democratic since March 4, 2020
Structure
Seats	8 taken, 1 open
Political groups	Democratic (4)   Charterite (1)   Independent (1)   Republican (2)
Elections
Voting system	at-large
Last election	November 7, 2017
Next election	November 2, 2021
Meeting place
Cincinnati City Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio
Website
Cincinnati City Council

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, one local party, the 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 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, meaning that City Council will return to two-year terms beginning with the 2021 election.

The next city council and mayoral election is scheduled for November 2021.

Cincinnati City Council Members

Council Member	Party	First Elected	Other Positions
Christopher Smitherman	Independent	2011	Vice Mayor
Chris Seelbach	Democrat	2011	President Pro Tempore
Greg Landsman	Democrat	2017
David Mann	Charter, Democrat	2013
Jeff Pastor	Republican	2017
P.G. Sittenfeld	Democrat	2011
Betsy Sundermann	Republican	2020[3]
Wendell Young	Democrat	2011
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney	Democrat	2020[4]

Election results

Italic type indicates incumbent.

Year	Winning Candidates	Losing Candidates
2017	P.G. Sittenfeld (D): 39,815 David Mann (C, D): 35,789 Chris Seelbach (D): 30,626 Wendell Young (D): 28,295 Christopher Smitherman (I) 27,149 Tamaya Dennard (C, D): 26,053 Greg Landsman (D): 25,049 Amy Murray (C, R): 23,888 Jeff Pastor (R): 21,996	Michelle Dillingham (D): 21,773 Ozie Davis (D): 18,671 Lesley Jones (D): 18,345 Laure Quinlivan (I): 16,758 Derek Bauman (C): 16,680 Henry Frondorf (C): 10,637 Seth Maney (R): 10,114 Brian Garry (G): 9,152 Kelli Prather (I): 7,175 Tamie Sullivan (G): 6,232 Tonya Dumas (I): 6,186 Erica L. Black-Johnson (I): 5,539 Cristina Burcica (I): 4,150 Manuel Foggie (I): 3,556 Dadrien Washington (I): 125
2013	P.G. Sittenfeld (D): 37,484 Charlie Winburn (R): 27,397 David Mann (C, D): 26,443 Yvette Simpson (C, D): 25,449 Chris Seelbach (D): 23,738 Christopher Smitherman (I) 23,604 Wendell Young (D): 22,600 Kevin Flynn (C): 22,059 Amy Murray (C, R): 21,979	Laure Quinlivan (D): 21,079 Greg Landsman (C, D): 19,619 Michelle Dillingham (D): 19,143 Pam Thomas (D): 18,499 Vanessa White (C): 16,892 Sam Malone (R): 16,462 Mellisa Wegman (R): 9,942 Shawn Butler (D): 9,788 Mike Moroski (I): 8,688 Angela Beamon (I): 7,943 Kevin Johnson (I): 6,647 Timothy Joseph Dorsbrusch (I): 4,006
2011	Roxanne Qualls (C, D): 37,275 P.G. Sittenfeld (D): 30,474 Wendell Young (D): 29,067 Cecil Thomas (D): 28,892 Charlie Winburn (R): 28,829 Laure Quinlivan (D): 27,422 Yvette Simpson (C, D): 27,204 Christopher Smitherman (I): 23,760 Chris Seelbach (D): 23,484	Chris Bortz (C): 22,044 Kevin Flynn (C): 21,828 Amy Murray (R): 21,433 Leslie Ghiz (R): 20,719 Wayne Lippert (R): 18,397 Jason Riveiro (D): 18,174 Mike Allen (I) 16,598 Nicholas Hollan (D): 14,628 Catherine Smith Mills (R): 13,513 Pat McCollum (I): 6,180 Kathy Atkinson (I): 5,012 Jacqueline Allen (I): 4,555 Sandra Queen Noble (I): 2,726 Orlando Welborn (I): 33
2009	Roxanne Qualls (C, D):[5] 43,513 Cecil Thomas (D): 35,690 Chris Bortz (C): 32,911 Jeff Berding (I):[6] 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):[7] 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):[8] 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: 8,476 (C) 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):[9] 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: 4,719 (I) 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: 2,271 Bill Barron (I): 1,849 Bennie Green (I): 1,800 Victor Phillips (I): 1,695 Antonio Hodge (I): 1,276
2003	David Pepper (D): 34,405 Alicia Reece (D): 32,078 Y. Laketa Cole (D):[10] 27,644 James R. Tarbell (C): 27,480 John Cranley (D): 26,980 R. Patrick DeWine (R): 26,573 Christopher Smitherman (C/G): 25,483 Sam Malone (R): 24,002 David Crowley (D): 22,713	Damon Lynch III (I): 21,764 Leslie Ghiz (R): 19,916 Chris Monzel (R): 19,197 Barbara W. Trauth: 17,480 John Connelly: 14,047 Pete Witte: 13,479 Terry Deters: 11,889 John F. Schlagetter (C): 11,420 Tom Jones: 10,441 Samuel T. Britton: 9,778 Howard H. Bond: 8,260 Nick Spencer (C): 7,378 Marilyn Hyland: 5,864 Brian Garry (G): 5,504 Eric Wilson: 2,686 Glenn O. Givens Sr.: 2,327 Larry J. Frazier: 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):[11] 36,998 James R. Tarbell (C): 35,533 David Crowley: (D): 33,225 Paul Booth (D): 27,732 Chris Monzel (R):[12] 26,479	Y. Laketa Cole (D): 24,567 Todd Ward (R): 23,895 Sam Malone (R): 23,211 Jane Anderson: 21,026 Akiva Freeman: 19,788 Dawn Denno: 19,598 Lawra Baumann: 17,686 Ken Anderson: 15,119 Clarence D. Williams III: 14,371 Nathaniel Livingston Jr.: 12,735 Tom Jones: 12,235 John F. Schlagetter (C): 10,269 William Kirkland: 6,211 Theo Barnes: 4,795 Eric Wilson: 4,376 Wes Flinn: 3,682 Toni Andrews: 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):[13] 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: 17,297 Ken Anderson: 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):[14] 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
1995	Mayor: Roxanne Qualls (D): 49,165 Phil Heimlich (R): 48,072 Dwight Tillery (D): 45,616 Bobbie L. Sterne (C): 40,663 Nick Vehr (R): 40,207 Minette Cooper (D): 40,105 Charlie Winburn (R): 38,963 Todd Portune (D): 36,308 Tyrone Yates (D): 33,644	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 Cromwell: 9,109 Simmons: 4,354
1993	Mayor: Roxanne Qualls (D): 48,476 Dwight Tillery (D): 45,928 Nick Vehr (R): 45,494 Bobbie L. Sterne (C): 43,077 Thomas A. Luken (D): 39,771 Charlie Winburn (R): 39,670 Tyrone Yates (D): 36,204 Todd Portune (D): 34,460 Phil Heimlich (R): 33,873	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
1991	Mayor: Dwight Tillery (D): 52,020 Guy Guckenberger (I): 49,793 David S. Mann (D): 48,595 John Mirlisena (D): 47,655 Peter J. Strauss (D): 45,577 James Cissell (R): 42,467 Bobbie L. Sterne (C): 40,697 Roxanne Qualls (D): 38,543 Tyrone Yates (C): 36,548	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

1. Barber, Kathleen. Proportional Representation and Election Reform in Ohio. Ohio State University Press, 1995.
2. Wetterich, Chris (5 November 2018). "Cincinnati voters beware of Issues 10 and 11". American City Business Journals. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
3. https://www.citybeat.com/news/blog/21120031/murray-replacement-betsy-sundermann-sworn-in-on-cincinnati-city-council
4. https://www.wvxu.org/post/kearney-joins-cincinnati-city-council#stream/0
5. Qualls was endorsed by the Charter Committee and the Democratic Party. Qualls' clout grows; options abound
6. The Democratic Party withdrew its endorsement of Berding. Mallory more focused on 9 Archived 2009-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
7. After John Cranley stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Harris was sworn in as his replacement on January 12, 2009.
8. After James R. Tarbell stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Qualls was sworn in as his replacement on August 8, 2007.
9. After R. Patrick DeWine stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Monzel was sworn in as his replacement on January 14, 2005.
10. After Paul Booth stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Cole was sworn in as his replacement on April 23, 2003.
11. After Todd Portune stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Cranley was sworn in as his replacement in December, 2000.
12. After Phil Heimlich stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Monzel was sworn in as his replacement in February 2001.
13. After Bobbie Sterne stepped down from her seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Tarbell was sworn in as her replacement in 1998.
14. After Nick Vehr stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Cissell was sworn in as his replacement in 1996.

External links

• Cincinnati City Council
• SmartVoter.org – Current & historical election information to 1998 for Hamilton County, OH presented by the League of Women Voters
• Hamilton County, OH Board of Elections Current & historical election information
• City of Cincinnati – Elections Commission Political Contribution Data
• Cincinnati Municipal Code