Cleveland Mayoral Candidate Landry Simmons Withdraws From Race, Field Narrows to 7

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections met Monday to certify candidates in the 2021 Cleveland Mayoral election. Of the eight who submitted signatures by the June 16 filing deadline, seven have been certified.

Candidate Landry Simmons fell short of the 3,000 valid signatures required and will withdraw from the race.

Simmons, a 52-year-old Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Deputy from West Park, was the lone Republican in the field. He had been campaigning on a pro-police platform and said that as mayor, he would work to abolish the Consent Decree and do whatever he could to “clean up the city” and reduce violent crime.

Simmons was not thought to be among the race’s serious contenders and his departure does little to shift the balance of power among those actively campaigning.

Seven candidates remain — Justin Bibb, Ross DiBello, Basheer Jones, Kevin Kelley, Dennis Kucinich, Zack Reed and Sandra Williams — most of whom have theoretical pathways to one of the top two spots on Sept. 14.

***
Sign up for Scene’s weekly newsletters to get the latest on Cleveland news, things to do and places to eat delivered right to your inbox.

This article appears in Jun 16-29, 2021.