Cory Bowman, who is Vice President JD Vance’s younger half-brother, was attempting to become Cincinnati’s first Republican mayor since the late 1970s.
CINCINNATI, Ohio—Aftab Pureval, Cincinnati’s incumbent Democratic mayor who has faced criticism as violent crime has mounted in the city, was elected to a second term on Nov. 4.
The Associated Press called the race at 8:13 p.m. ET. Pureval secured 82 percent of the vote compared to 18 percent for Republican mayoral candidate Cory Bowman, Vice President JD Vance’s younger half-brother.
Bowman had hopes of becoming Cincinnati’s first Republican mayor since Kenneth Blackwell held the seat in the late 1970s. Instead, he had a fate similar to Brad Wenstrup, the last Republican to run for mayor in Ohio’s third-largest city.
Wenstrup lost to a Democrat in the 2009 general election before eventually becoming a Congressman.
In Ohio, turnout in off-year elections is usually low. On Nov. 3, Bowman told The Epoch Times that he believed concerns about crime and road conditions in the city would bring voters to the polls.
Meeting with supporters over lunch at Price Hill Chili, a popular diner on the city’s west side, Bowman took a breather on an Election Day that started before sunrise at a poll in Sayler Park, one of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods.
Bowman noted that conversations with voters at polls he had visited on Election Day in the morning reinforced his Nov. 3 comments.
“We haven’t copied and pasted national politics into this race. Residents, regardless of party affiliation, care about public safety, the condition of the roads, the budget, and how City Hall spends money,” Bowman said.
“Those are the issues we’ve focused on, and from what I’ve heard today, that has brought people out to vote.
Bowman is a pastor and a coffee shop owner in Cincinnati’s west side.
He told The Epoch Times before May’s primary that he was inspired to launch a mayoral campaign after attending the inauguration of President Donald Trump, when Vance officially took office as vice president.
At the time, Bowman acknowledged it was a long-shot bid.
In Ohio, Republicans occupy the two U.S. Senate seats, 10 of the 15 Congressional spots, and the governor’s office. There is a Republican super-majority in the state legislature, and Trump decisively won the state all three times he ran for president.
Cincinnati, however, is a deep blue city. Along with Pureval, the community has an all-Democratic city council.
In the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris carried the city with around 75 percent of the vote compared to about 22 percent for Trump.
As of the May 6 primary, there were around 221,000 registered voters. Only 10 percent cast their ballots.
Pureval received 83 percent of the ballots compared to 13 percent for Bowman.
In Cincinnati, the top two candidates in the primary advance to the general election.
