What to Expect Out of City Hall in 2026

Cincinnati City Hall, the seat of the municipal government of Cincinnati, Ohio. The building was designed by Samuel Hannaford and completed in 1893.

"We must distinguish between the programs of the bourgeois parties, between the banquet and parliamentary speeches of the liberal careerists and their actual participation in the real struggle of the people. Bourgeois politicians, one and all, in all parliamentary countries, have always paid lip-service to democracy while betraying it." -VI Lenin, "Deception of the People by the Liberals" (1908)

Cincinnati city elections have come and gone, and now's the time for the eight incumbents and the one newcomer elected to City Council (all Democrats) to take their seats alongside Mayor Aftab Pureval (D), Vice-Mayor Kearney (D) and City Manager Sheryl Long (D). The overwhelming defeat of Republican nominees—typical of Cincinnati elections—has been viewed as cause for celebration by a large section of Cincinnati voters. However, in the midst of this liberal rejoicing, we feel that a more thorough analysis of these results, and what they're to bring, is in order. To that end, the first question that ought to be posed and answered is, "What should the residents of Cincinnati expect out of this (not so) new iteration of our city government?" In the simplest terms, we answer: "More of the same." The vast majority of us in Cincinnati who are poor or working-class understand that this is not a good thing—unless increasing homelessness, inflated police budgets, rising rents and endless highway expansions are what you're into. To more thoroughly analyze the results of the recent elections, let's begin at the top with our very own Mayor Pureval.

Pureval, no stranger to verbal punishment from the people of Cincinnati—not to mention our party—enjoyed a huge advantage in this past election: his opponent was perhaps the most hated man in the city. Cory Bowman, his Republican opponent, hails from the loathsome family that gave us current Vice-President and fascist swine, JD Vance. Cory, Vance's half-brother, is the same Bowman who masochistically put himself on a float in the Northside Fourth of July Parade last year, facing boos and jeers from an unfriendly crowd. (Without police protection, it's safe to say he would have endured more than just harsh words thrown in his direction.)

So, Aftab unsurprisingly pulled off a landslide victory. Bowman will not be the mayor of Cincinnati. And what does this mean? We say that Bowman losing—not Aftab's victory—is the only positive thing to come out of the Mayoral election. Considering the results of Pureval's tenure as Mayor thus far, or his rhetoric in his debate with Bowman leading up to the election, it is clear to see that this outcome is not a promising one. When pressed by Bowman about his "soft" position on crime, Pureval defended the Collaborative Agreement and assured voters that he, given his experience, would be more effective at supplying CPD with what they need to crack down on crime in Cincinnati. This position is consistent with a national trend within the Democratic Party, exemplified by Kamala Harris' failed presidential campaign, to "out-right wing" their Republican adversaries in attempts to win over conservative voters. This decision by Democratic Party leaders, seized upon by Mayor Pureval, should dispel all rumors that the DNC is a left-wing party worthy of a leftist's vote. The unfortunate reality that must be understood by the masses is that there is no left-wing party in the US at this moment in 2026 capable of challenging the capitalist parties—and this understanding is only the first step. Building a party capable of this cannot happen overnight, so efforts must begin now to make this a reality. We call on all poor and working people to abandon the two major capitalist parties so the work to build a new party can begin. Until then, we cannot hope for any positive and meaningful change. To do so would epitomize Einstein's definition of insanity: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

City Manager Sheryl Long has had her own misgivings with CPD's effectiveness, ultimately leading her to place CPD Chief Teresa Theetge on administrative leave and spearhead an investigation into "the effectiveness of her leadership" following a Fountain Square shooting in October. This shooting, admittedly a devastating tragedy, has since been used as a pretext by nearly all city officials to call for increased policing and increased funding to CPD. Apparently more than 30% of Cincinnati's General Fund is not enough for CPD to do their jobs "effectively," because an additional $5.4 million was unanimously approved by members of City Council in September (prior to the shooting at Fountain Square). Wherever you look in City Hall, whether it be the Mayor's office, City Council or City Manager, you will find only Democrats, all of whom support more policing. Long has since reinstated Chief Theetge, but her initial doubts are still an indication of her desires to ramp up policing in Cincy.

Now let's look at Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney. As Vice Mayor, Kearney's position is somewhat of an extension of Mayor Aftab. Her platform and rhetoric are about what you'd expect from a Democratic candidate. Her stated goals according to this 2025 survey include equity to underserved communities, decreased gun violence, youth opportunities, increasing home ownership, and small business support. Her website (which hasn't been updated since 2023) hits most of the same notes, claiming that Kearney "has prioritized community input at City Hall, increasing homeownership, advocating for affordable housing, small businesses, and our arts communities [...] and eradicating food deserts in our neighborhoods." What's interesting about these claims is that all these issues have plagued the residents of Cincinnati for years with little to no improvement, many having intensified since she’s taken office. Ironically, her website states that she has "prioritized" community input, but since then measures have literally been taken to limit input at City Hall after council members got sick of hearing statements of solidarity with victims of genocide in Gaza. Furthermore, the housing crisis has only gotten worse, food deserts continue to be a massive obstacle for families in poor neighborhoods, and little to no progress has been made to address rising costs of living. Either Vice Mayor Kearney is merely paying lip service to the needs of her constituents, or, despite her best efforts, she's been completely ineffective at making any progress in these areas. Regardless of how genuine she is—and we have our doubts—there is only so much that can be done toward these ends so long as the working class suffers under bourgeois dictatorship: the dictatorship of the capitalist class.

With 8 incumbents returning and just one newcomer, there is minimal hope for any improvements coming from City Council either. They have consistently served the interests of Cincinnati's corporate class in the name of "beautification," "revitalization," and helping "small businesses." Apparently P&G, GE, Kroger, Towne Properties, the Castellini's and major banks like Fifth Third, Western & Southern, and PNC, (all of which have representation on the Board of Directors at 3CDC) qualify as "small" businesses in the eyes of City Council. Past Council members have been rewarded for their service to the ultra-wealthy, such as former councilman Reggie Harris (D), who spinelessly accepted a position in the Biden administration in the last year of his presidency. (This being the same Biden administration that enthusiastically facilitated Israel's genocidal onslaught of a largely defenseless population of predominantly women and children in Gaza.) And of course, one can't talk about enthusiastic support of genocide without mentioning former councilman Greg Landsman (D). Landsman is currently the US Congressional representative for our locale. These examples demonstrate a clear path linking the Democrats in Cincinnati City Hall to the federal government, highlighting the opportunities available to self-serving bourgeois politicians who are willing to sell out the poor and working people of Cincinnati.

Unlike Cincinnati's state and federal representatives, one thing this iteration of City Council doesn't have is a Republican majority to hide their ineptitude behind. A common argument used by liberal politicians and their supporters goes something along the lines of: "We'd love to actually serve the interests of everyday working people, but we just can't because the big, bad Republicans won't let us! That's why we need to vote as hard as we can next election to defeat the Republican boogeyman!" It's truly a wonder how anyone in Cincinnati can still parrot the tired "Vote blue, no matter who" line, given the dismal results our 100% blue City Council have produced. Life for working people has only grown more difficult. Cost of living has skyrocketed; police violence, especially against Black and Brown people, has only increased; essentially, all of the liberal promises of material improvements to everyday peoples' lives have fallen by the wayside. Even in the case of council members who skew further left than the typical Democrat—such as Meeka Owens, who positions herself as a friend to the Free Palestine movement—there is only so much that can be achieved through liberal reforms alone. Each member of council still ultimately supports CPD, and still bows time and again to the interests of investors and developers. Scotty Johnson is a former cop, Jeff Cramerding wants to do away with homeless encampments, Evan Nolan says he "doesn't see himself as a disruptor," Meeka Owens curiously endorsed Kamala Harris despite her involvement as Vice President in Israel's genocide in Gaza, and Ryan James (the new arrival) was endorsed by Fraternity of Police Lodge #69.

One positive that people may point to with this current City Council and Mayoral administration is the representation of Black and Brown people, as well as women, within City Hall. While this is better than the alternative of a council made up exclusively of white men, we think their lack of winning any material improvements in the lives of Cincinnatians demonstrates the unfortunate reality that representation of a certain minority in positions of power is by no means a guarantee that conditions will actually improve for the groups they represent. The limits of liberal identity politics must be understood. The representation of marginalized groups in our city government has done little to improve the lives of working class Black and Brown people. That is because Black and Brown working people are in fact not represented, and cannot be represented within a bourgeois parliamentary system. The rule of capitalist class can only be overcome by a revolutionary dismantling of the bourgeois state which upholds the domination of capital as well as capitalism itself.