JD Vance’s Half Brother Advances in Race for Cincinnati Mayor

[ad_1] A half brother of Vice President JD Vance who's operating for mayor of Cincinnati superior on Tuesday to compete within the common election.

The candidate, Cory Bowman, a Republican espresso store proprietor, gained a small share of the votes in Tuesday’s nonpartisan main, in response to The Related Press. He got here in second to the present mayor, Aftab Pureval, a Democrat.

They'll now face one another once more in November. The outcomes pushed a 3rd candidate, Brian Frank, additionally a Republican, out of the race.

Cincinnati mayoral elections are technically nonpartisan, nevertheless it has been many years because the metropolis elected a Republican to the workplace. Vice President Kamala Harris gained 77 p.c of town’s voters final fall, at the same time as President Trump and Mr. Vance, Ohio’s junior senator, took the state.

David Niven, a professor of politics on the College of Cincinnati, mentioned Mr. Bowman’s household connections had been unlikely to alter that dynamic. “You may’t get that far as a Trump-Vance Republican within the metropolis of Cincinnati.” However anyplace else within the state of Ohio, Dr. Niven mentioned, “He’d be in higher form as a candidate.”

Mr. Pureval gained each the first and the overall mayoral elections 4 years in the past by vast margins. Till a couple of months in the past, he had appeared poised to run unopposed for a second time period. Each Republicans mentioned that risk spurred them to enter the race, which has centered on native issues like inexpensive housing, potholes and public security.

Mr. Bowman and Mr. Frank have accused Mr. Pureval’s administration of neglecting infrastructural repairs, speeding a brand new zoning plan and failing to clear the streets shortly after a serious snowstorm pummeled town in January.

Mr. Pureval mentioned that his administration had pushed aggressively, and efficiently, to extend town’s inventory of inexpensive housing, spend money on public security and revitalize town’s downtown after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr. Bowman grew up in Ohio and spent a number of years in Florida earlier than transferring to Cincinnati in 2020. He and his spouse, Jordan, run a espresso store and a nondenominational evangelical church, each within the metropolis’s West Finish.

He didn't vote for mayor in 2021, which he mentioned was frequent within the metropolis the place turnout for native races is often low. In interviews, all three candidates mentioned that Mr. Bowman’s household connection had introduced further consideration to the race. They hoped turnout can be increased than in previous years.

Mr. Bowman and Mr. Vance’s father, Donald Bowman, died in 2023. The half brothers didn't develop up collectively as a result of Mr. Vance was raised by his mom’s facet of the household. However Mr. Bowman mentioned that he had a transparent reminiscence of taking part in basketball together with his half brother after they had been younger — the start of their friendship.

Mr. Bowman attended Mr. Vance’s inauguration in January and mentioned that he was impressed by the vice chairman’s success, however didn't think about him a political mannequin.

“Persons are not searching for a copy-and-paste of the nationwide administration in our metropolis,” he mentioned. “They’re searching for individuals which are going to care concerning the native points.”

Mr. Vance didn't reply to a request for remark, and he has not publicly endorsed Mr. Bowman for mayor. Doing so may truly harm his half brother’s candidacy in a Democratic metropolis.

“We’ve gotten a ‘good luck,’ a ‘congratulations,’ and he’s requested the way it’s gone,” Mr. Bowman mentioned. “However it is a race that we’re operating for Cincinnati, and I believe that he understands that.”