Campaigns for Cleveland City Council's New Wards Heat Up With a Mix of Challengers, Open Seats, and Incumbent-vs-Incumbent Races

A Better Cleveland for All event announcing endorsements of four candidates — Rebecca Maurer, Tanmay Shah, Nikki Hudson and Alana Belle — earlier this summer Credit: Photo by Mark Oprea

Cleveland City Council is going to look different come next year. To what degree is left to be seen, but for starters, there will be just 15 members after a charter-mandated redistricting to decrease the body by two seats in line with Cleveland’s falling population.

Those 15 wards – each with about 24,800 residents – are also geographically different from the 17 that currently exist after the contentious remapping process, led by Council President Blaine Griffin, sliced, diced and cobbled together neighborhoods.

“It was like trying to put 30 pounds of potatoes in a 10-pound sack,” Griffin told Signal Cleveland over the winter about attempting to neatly fit everything together.

There was plenty of criticism to go around from some of the spuds – two east side wards were eliminated, west side wards were reshaped, Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer was gerrymandered out of most of her constituency, Ward 12 was split into five pieces, and opponents lobbed allegations that the entire process was secretive and rushed.

Griffin, for his part, defended what he and council’s consultants came up with.
“All I will tell you is that we gave it our best effort,” he said during a meeting in early January when council voted 14-2 to approve the new maps. “We did the best that we could, and we believe the process was transparent.”

Six months later, we’re in the heat of the summer campaign season as the June 11 deadline for candidates to submit petition signatures has come and gone, leaving Cleveland with some intriguing storylines ahead of the September 9 primary that will narrow each race to two competitors (or greenlight uncontested races). We have incumbent-on-incumbent battles, two completely open seats, a nascent progressive PAC supporting candidates while the Council Leadership Fund funnels dough to (most) incumbents, members with historically strong support running for reelection in the wake of major controversies, new faces and challengers aiming to win upsets, and the possibility that Mike Polensek – the longest-serving councilmember in Cleveland and perhaps America – might not be back.

It’s not boring!

Here’s a rundown of where each race stands as candidate forums, rallies, fundraisers and canvassing pick up pace with less than three months before the primary.

Ward 1
Incumbent Joe Jones, who was the subject of a City Council internal investigation into allegations of misconduct, is looking to retain his seat after the recent controversies. He still enjoys support on council – both Anthony Hairston and Richard Starr came to his defense – and in the ward, but is facing challengers including Aylwin Bridges, Marc Crosby, and current state representative Juanita Brent, who is termed out in Columbus.

Brent looks to be the staunchest competition.

“Ward 1 has been home for my entire life,” she told Scene. “When I thought about what my professional life will look like down the road, I looked at other opportunities, and even out of state, but everything kept coming back to pouring into a place that has poured so much into me. It’s not about the incumbent. It’s about how I can make this change here.”

For Brent, the biggest issue facing the ward is making people feel connected and “bringing a connection between City Hall and the community.”

Aylwin Bridges, a Navy vet and retired consulting executive, had plenty to say about Jones when he ran against him four years ago, and none of it good. And his previous complaints about Jones haven’t abated. In fact, he has more.

“The ward has been abused and left unrepresented,” Bridges told Scene. “Joe Jones is a chronic liar. He’s not transparent. And, as you’re aware, his current treatment of women at City Hall… that’s not the type of person I and several other people want to represent us.”

Bridges earned the endorsement of Cleveland.com’s editorial board back in 2021, which wrote the “longtime resident of the Lee-Harvard neighborhood provides the clearest alternative to Jones. A top priority then as now, Bridges said, is to have proper development in the ward, both for housing and businesses.

Meanwhile, Marc Crosby, a businessman and longtime resident, said he’s running “because I live in the community and I see it’s decaying. With houses being empty and people concerned they’re not getting the attention from city leadership they should, I want to use my skills in business development and bring a community perspective” to the job.

Ward 2
Incumbent Kevin Bishop is running unopposed.

Ward 3
Cleveland Councilwoman Deborah Gray faces two challengers in Sharon Spruill and Erch Stubbs.

Spruill is a born and bred Clevelander — a Buckeye native, a John Hay grad, a longtime employee at both Burten Bell Carr and the Fairfax Development Corporation — and has seen her community and the surrounding neighborhoods suffer nothing but disinvestment and decay for decades.

“I’ve seen it go from sugar to wherever it can go from there negatively,” she told Scene. “When I think about the Buckeye corridor, and all the thriving businesses that used to be there…. Now, when I walk that area or drive through. there’s nothing but trash and closed, boarded-up businesses. There’s been a total disinvestment from Buckeye to Kinsman to Union. It’s so disheartening. We can’t do another four years or 30 years of people not trying to do something different.”

Spruill brings experience not only as a longtime resident but as a healthy homes coordinator entrenched in the community, helping homeowners and tenants get the home repairs and safe, stable housing she says are vital to a safe, thriving city.

Ward 4
Incumbent Kris Harsh, who has been one of the more active members of council including conducting a recent survey of all housing in his ward, is running against challenger Rehan Waheed, MD.

Waheed, according to his LinkedIn profile, is “a purpose-driven visionary entrepreneurial executive equipped with a broad leadership background in public and private organizations serving education, healthcare, and technology sectors for almost two decades.”

Ward 5
This race features one of two incumbent-on-incumbent battles as Rebecca Maurer and Richard Starr square up, along with challenger Beverly Owens-Jackson.

Maurer, who was forced out of her current district in the redistricting process and who has drawn the ire of fellow councilmembers for daring to break with tradition and speak out on issues she feels passionate about – “Quite frankly, members of this body encouraged me to get rid of Ward 12 because they don’t trust the council member in Ward 12,” Griffin said at meeting this winter – told Scene there’s still a lot she feels she can do for Cleveland.

“I feel my work isn’t done yet,” she said. “I’m ready to get back in and fight for the Cleveland I ran to create in the first place. I feel really clear eyed that I’m not running against anybody. I’m running for a vision of Cleveland that isn’t her yet and that I believe is possible. I believe I can make a difference in people’s lives, I believe council can do that.”

As for running in the majority-Black ward against Starr, who enjoys widespread support there and didn’t respond to a request for an interview for this story, she told Scene: “The first thing is I have to say that out loud: I’m navigating how to be a white woman in this diverse ward where we have Central, a majority African-American neighborhood that’s the home of Black political power in the city. Where I ultimately landed was that the center of Black political power was in the voters. I’m going to lay out who I am to the voters and let them decide.”

Owens-Jackson, who’s worked at Tri-C for decades and been involved with SEIU since 2002, told Scene she’s running to improve the sense of community in the ward.

“This is me: I’m a recovering addict, a victim of domestic violence, I was homeless, after rehab I landed at Tri-C, had a baby, got my first degree, watched her graduate Tri-C. I’m a homeowner and I’ve had to fight for 10 years to stay in my home. My income has increased but life has become harder because of the increases in everything we need to survive. We have no stores in the area, we have nothing that would contribute to the things a community needs to thrive,” she said.

Ward 6
Council President Blaine Griffin, after deciding against a mayoral run, is unopposed in his race.

Ward 7
After Kerry McCormack announced he would not seek reelection, and would not step down early to appoint a successor who would enjoy incumbent status, the race for the west side ward became an open one. Three challengers have emerged.

Austin Davis, a senior advisor to Mayor Justin Bibb, championed McCormack’s tenure and said it’s time to carry the ward into the future.

“These neighborhoods need someone to see them into the next chapter,” he said. “These places where young families are setting down roots, where people are starting careers, and all these community members who have been anchors for a generation who feel pressured to leave or change their living situation. There’s so much energy and life in these neighborhoods.”

As for priorities for his campaign, Davis told Scene they start with the paramount issues in the neighborhoods he would serve — housing, safety, transportation, parks.

Mike Rogalski previously ran against McCormack in 2021, finishing a distant third behind the sitting councilmember and challenger Ayat Amin. He points to gentrification as the chief issue facing the ward, which includes Tremont, Ohio City, Detroit Shoreway and a slice of downtown.

“It’s decimated the fabric of the ward over the past 20 years, and that’s upsetting to residents,” he said. “It’s displacing all sorts of people, it’s not allowing people to remain in the neighborhoods. It’s upended places that have always been tight knit.”

Mohammad Faraj is an Eco Village resident, attorney, and enterprise manager for Bitcoin Depot.

A first generation Arab American who is Palestinian, Faraj told Scene he’s been very much engaged in local and national issues — advocating on behalf of Palestine, getting more involved in community organizing, and listening to what residents in the ward want.

As for campaign priorities, Faraj said he’s still listening to voters but wants to focus on accessible city services, dependable infrastructure, reliable public safety, flexible economic development and sustainable small businesses.

“Are folks stably housed? Do young people have access to good jobs and training? Do neighbors know and trust each other? Those are some of the things I’ll be talking about,” he said.

Ward 8
Incumbent Stephanie Howse-Jones will face four challengers: Leon Meredith, Charlotte Perkins, Teri Wang, and Tony Perry (a write-in candidate). Not a ton of information is available about them with the exception of Wang, an ex-commissioner of the Cleveland Community Police Commission.

Ward 9
Incumbent Kevin Conwell will face challengers Alana Belle, one of four progressive candidates backed by the A Better Cleveland for All PAC, along with Tony Evans Jr.

Belle, who has worked in community organizing for 15 years and as a professional non-profit electoral organizer for 10, told Scene she’s running because she’s passionate about her community.

“I’m passionate about reproductive justice, and one of the pillars there is making sure we have safe, sustainable neighborhoods,” she said. “Glenville, the area I grew up in and where my parents still live… looking around the ward at all of its different changes, it’s exciting and disappointing. The pieces of the ward that are disappointing have simple fixes. It’s about intention and paying attention and connecting neighborhoods to each other.”

Knocking doors, she said the biggest issues she hears about are gun violence and housing. “Gun violence is pretty straightforward, the housing issue has a lot of different factors including affordability, maintenance, safety, potholes, downed wires, empty lots and abandoned homes,” she said.

Tony Evans Jr. has a background in management and fitness and said his experience makes him a viable leader.

“This is what I’ve been doing my whole life,” he told Scene.

Economic development and safety are his two biggest priorities.

“I feel like there’s been a lack of leadership and representation,” he said. “No new ideas. We want to do community policing. And as far as development goes, there are a lot of abandoned buildings that could be revitalized. In general, my ward has been neglected.”

Ward 10
In the second possible incumbent-on-incumbent race, both Anthony Hairston and Mike Polensek are currently on the ballot. Could Polensek, who has served on council since the Cleveland baseball team was named the Spiders, step down? That seems to be the thought right now amongst close watchers of city politics, but he’s told various reporters voters still love him, that he’s got a garage full of campaign signs, and that he’s still ready to do the job. Challenger Keith Hemphill is also vying for the seat.

Ward 11
A second westside ward where the departure of a sitting councilperson has left an open race as Jenny Spencer’s decision to step aside has left only challengers Nikki Hudson and Andrew Fontranarosa on the ballot.

Hudson was part of the Friends of Cudell Commons Park group that pushed Mayor Justin Bibb and CMSD to delay the construction of a new Marion Seltzer school that would have felled dozens of mature trees. She also serves on the board of the Northwest Neighborhoods CDC, as she did on the board of the Cudell improvement CDC before the merger, and has chaired her local block club.

“I’m a big believer in strong neighborhoods,” Hudson said. “If we want to make the city a great place to live, we have to focus on creating strong neighborhoods. To me, that means safe and green neighborhoods. I fought with the coalition to save Cudell park, doing things like creating green spaces and maintaining our legacy trees. I also believe in a government that works for the people. I’m interested in the public service aspect of running for office; it’s not my lifelong goal to be a politician.”

Fontanarosa is a lawyer at an immigration firm and Gordon Square resident. At a recent candidate forum at the Happy Dog, he said he’s running because, “I love living in the city of Cleveland” and that his various experiences with city government have proven that city services can be improved. “I’m running to bring a maniacally dedicated focus to the provision of services to residents across the ward and likewise across the city at large.”

Ward 12
Incumbent Danny Kelly might be among the few vulnerable council members come this fall as he faces off against challengers Tanmay Shah and Andrew Defratis.

Shah, a former attorney at The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland where he helped lead the recent unionization efforts, is now a truck driver for Rust Belt Riders, a career decision he says he made after becoming disillusioned with the criminal justice system and to give him more time to work as a community and labor organizer.

A seat at the table on council is his next goal.

“Council is not speaking to the reality working class people are facing,” the Jefferson resident and Indian immigrant told Scene. “I was representing low-income tenants who were not able to afford $500 or $600 in rent, and all I see are townhomes and luxury apartments going up. There’s a disconnect. Officials aren’t up to the challenge right now. They haven’t really laid out a vision for the challenges the city is facing.”

For Shah, that vision should include the basics — food, shelter, transportation.

“We have to get those fundamentals right before we talk about bigger things,” he says. “I don’t think the city’s in a place where we’ve done that for the working class.”

Andrew Defratis is a Northeast Ohio native and lives in Clifton-Baltic with his partner. He currently works for the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center as the Director of Public Affairs, working on government affairs, outreach and crafting legislative efforts to support sexual assault survivors. He’s a lifelong Democrat who’s been involved in the Ward 15 Democrat Club, the county Dem party and previously worked for the Summit County ADAMHS Board.

He’d like to bring that expertise to the ward in an official capacity.

“I think there are a lot of informed advocates and informed experts in the progressive space and the ward deserves an elected official that responds to democratic advocacy,” he said. And he’d like the city to continue to focus on health-driven policies that improve the lives of everyday Clevelanders. “From Project NOIR to the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, building up the tree canopy, there are a lot of ways to make Cleveland a better place to live in safety aspects and health aspects.”

Ward 13
Incumbent Brian Kazy is running unopposed.

Ward 14
Incumbent Jasmin Santana is running unopposed.

Ward 15
Incumbent Charles Slife is running unopposed.

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