New Faces To Occupy Cleveland City Council

Cleveland OH

15 November, 2021

9:12 AM

Description

By Michael Indriolo, The Land November 15, 2021 Cleveland City Council will look very different come January as five seats will have new occupants, according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections' unofficial results. Those five new council members will fill seats in Wards 4, 5, 7, 12 and 13. Of those five seats, two were won from incumbents in Wards 5 and 12, but 10 other incumbents held onto their seats. Ward 1 | 26.7% turnout | Joe JonesLee-Harvard, Lee-Seville, Union-Miles and part of Mt. PleasantSitting council member Joe Jones, earning 2,787 votes, easily held onto his seat with 1,474 more votes than his challenger, Kimberly Brown, who earned 1,313 votes. Ward 2 | 20.9% turnout | Kevin BishopMt. Pleasant, Union-Miles and Mill Creek FallMore than 70 percent of Ward 2's voters voted to reelect Kevin Bishop, who earned 1,940 votes. That's 1,207 more than his competitor, Monique Moore, who won 733 votes. Ward 3 | 23.6% turnout | Kerry McCormackDowntown, Tremont, Ohio City and StockyardsKerry McCormack, Ward 3's incumbent, swept his race, too, by nearly 2,000 votes. McCormack earned 2,925 votes while his challenger, Ayat Amin, earned 982. McCormack has been preparing a bid for council president. He will face Ward 6's Blaine Griffin for the role once Kevin Kelley's term as president expires in January. Ward 4 | 24.0% turnout | Deborah GrayShaker Square and portions of Buckeye-Shaker, Woodland Hills and Mt. PleasantDeborah Gray, earning 1,938 votes, beat Erick Walker, who earned 1,135 votes, by 803 votes in the open race for Ward 4's council seat following former council member Ken Johnson's corruption scandal Ward 4's turnout shot up by about six percent from where it lagged during the primary. Ward 5 | 13.0% turnout | Richard StarrCentral, and parts of Kinsman, Midtown, downtown and North Broadway/Slavic VillageRichard Starr, who ran unsuccessfully against Phyllis Cleveland in 2017, edged out his competitor, Delores Gray, who Cleveland recommended as her replacement earlier this year. Starr, earning 800 votes, defeated Gray, who earned 623 votes, by 177 votes. Ward 6 | 19.9% turnout | Blaine GriffinFairfax, Larchmere, Little Italy, Woodland Hills, and parts of Buckeye-Shaker, University Circle, North Broadway, Slavic Village and Union-Miles Blaine Griffin defeated a write-in candidate by more than 2,000 votes. He garnered 2,182 votes while his opponent had 66. Griffin will face Ward 3's Kerry McCormack for city council presidency come January. Griffin endorsed sitting Council President Kevin Kelley in the mayoral race while McCormack endorsed Justin Bibb, who won. Ward 7 | 17.1% turnout | Stephanie HowseHough, St. Clair-Superior, Midtown and Asia TownIn Ward 7's open race to replace Basheer Jones who unsuccessfully ran for mayor, State Rep. Stephanie Howse earned 1,430 votes to win. She was 533 votes ahead of former Ward 7 council member TJ Dow, who earned 897 votes. When Howse and Dow last faced each other for Ward 7's council seat in the 2008 special election following the death of the renowned Fannie Lewis, Dow narrowly defeated Howse. Ward 8 | 26.3% turnout | Mike Polensek North Collinwood and part of GlenvilleMike Polensek's more than 40-year reign as Ward 8's council representative will continue for at least four more years. Earning 2,835 votes, he decisively defeated Aisia Jones, an activist with Black Lives Matter Cleveland who earned 820 votes, by 2,015 votes. Ward 9 | 18.5% turnout | Kevin ConwellGlenville and part of University CircleSitting council member Kevin Conwell did not face a challenger. He garnered 2,011 votes. Ward 10 | 18.5% turnout | Anthony HairstonSouth Collinwood, St Clair-Superior, Glenville, Euclid Park and Nottingham VillageSitting council member Anthony Hairston did not face a challenger. He garnered 1,816 votes. Ward 11 | 17.9% turnout | Brian Mooney Edgewater, Cudell, West Boulevard, Jefferson and Bellaire-Puritas Incumbent Brian Mooney held a few hundred votes over his challenger, Michael Hardy. Mooney earned 1,351 votes, which is 261 votes more than the 1,090 votes Hardy earned. Ward 12 | 22.4% turnout | Rebecca MaurerSlavic Village and parts of Tremont, Brooklyn Center and Old Brooklyn Rebecca Maurer, a progressive newcomer, unseated the 14-year city council veteran Tony Brancatelli in Ward 12. With 1,544 votes to Brancatelli's 1,476, she won by just 68 votes. Ward 13 | 30.8% turnout | Kris Harsh Old BrooklynKris Harsh, with 2,730 votes, solidified his place as Ward 13's council representative over Kate Warren, who earned 1,619 votes. That's a 1,111 vote difference. Harsh is the housing director at the Metro West Community Development Corporation, while Warren works as a researcher at the Center for Community Solutions. Ward 14 | 12.8% turnout | Jasmin Santana Clark-Fulton, Stockyards and parts of Brooklyn Centre, Tremont and West Boulevard Sitting council member Jasmin Santana defeated challenger Nelson Citron, repeating the results of the 2017 council race in Ward 14. Santana earned 1,034 votes to defeat Citron, who earned 546 votes, by 488 votes. Ward 14 had the lowest turnout of all of Cleveland's wards. Ward 15 | 23.7% turnout | Jenny SpencerEdgewater, Cudell, Detroit Shoreway and parts of Ohio City and StockyardsIncumbent Jenny Spencer swept Ward 15's race, defeating her opponent Chris Murray by more than 2,000 votes. Spencer earned 2,779 votes to Murray's 514. Ward 16 | Brian Kazy Bellaire Puritas, Jefferson, and parts of Cudell Incumbent Brian Kazy did not face a challenger this election cycle. He garnered 2,616 votes. Ward 17 | 41.8% turnout | Charles Slife West Park, Kamm's Corners and Puritas Charles Slife, Ward 17's sitting council member, defeated a challenge from Mary Kathleen O'Malley. O'Malley earned 2,531 votes while Slife earned 4,274 votes. The Land is a local news startup that reports on Cleveland's neighborhoods and inner ring suburbs. We deliver in-depth stories that foster accountability, inform the community, and inspire people to take action.