The 2021 Cleveland mayoral election took place on November 2, 2021, to elect the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. The election was officially nonpartisan, with the top two candidates from the September 14 primary election advancing to the general election, regardless of party. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Frank G. Jackson was eligible to run for reelection to a fifth term, but instead chose to retire. Justin Bibb was elected the 58th mayor of Cleveland in the general election.

Candidates Winner

Candidate Announced Nonprofit executive (Website)

Advanced to general

Candidate Announced President of Cleveland City Council (2014–) Cleveland City Councilman for Ward 13 (2005–)(Website)

Eliminated in primary

Candidate Announced Attorney (Website)Cleveland City Councilman for Ward 7 (2018–)(Website)Former mayor of Cleveland (1977–1979)Former U.S. representative from Ohio's 10th congressional district (1997–2013)Candidate for president of the United States (2004 and 2008)Candidate for governor of Ohio (2018)(Website)Candidate for mayor of Cleveland (2017)Former Cleveland City Councilman for Ward 13 (2000–2017)(Website)Ohio state senator from the 21st district (2015–2022)Ohio state representative from the 11th district (2007–2014)(Website)

Withdrew Landry McNord Simmons Jr., Cuyahoga County deputy sheriff and Cuyahoga County Republican Party committee member

Disqualified James Jerome Bell, realtor and perennial candidate Michael J. Chal Michael F. Kilbane Arthur O. Kostendt Keyshawn Dwayne Varnado Anthony Lee Wilson Latorya Jean Witcher

Declined Dan Brady, former president of Cuyahoga County Council, former state senator, and former city council member Blaine Griffin, city council member (running for re-election) Frank G. Jackson, incumbent mayor (endorsed Kelley) Dick Knoth, partner at BakerHostetler Martin J. Sweeney, Cuyahoga County council member, former president of Cleveland City Council, and former state representative Matt Zone, former city council member

Primary election Campaign

Ross DiBello became the first candidate to declare his intention to run on October 29, 2020. The next announcement came on January 12, 2021, when Justin Bibb became the second candidate to enter the race. In March, Zack Reed announced his second campaign for mayor after his unsuccessful run in 2017, followed by Kevin Kelley and Landry M. Simmons in April, and Sandra Williams in May.

On May 6, 2021, after much speculation, incumbent mayor Frank G. Jackson announced that he would not seek a fifth term. Jackson's announcement brought new interest to the race, as it suddenly became the first mayoral election in Cleveland since 2001 without an incumbent. Later the same day, Basheer Jones entered the race.

Dennis Kucinich, a longtime presence in Cleveland politics who had been rumored to be considering a run, announced his candidacy on June 14, 2021, two days before the deadline for submitting signatures to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Landry M. Simmons withdrew his candidacy after failing to reach the requisite 3,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot. Although municipal elections in Cleveland are officially nonpartisan, all seven qualified candidates were members of the Democratic Party.

A number of issues were debated by the candidates throughout the campaign. Every candidate except DiBello labeled crime as the preeminent issue of the race, which had reached record levels during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a 24% increase in assaults with firearms compared to 2020. Another major issue was poverty, due to Cleveland's status as the poorest major city in the United States. The issues of economic development, education, and government accountability and accessibility were also given attention, the latter in particular received emphasis due to the conviction of longtime Cleveland City Councilman Ken Johnson in late July 2021 on federal corruption charges as well as the Ohio nuclear bribery scandal.

In the primary, Justin Bibb placed first and Kevin Kelley placed second, sending both candidates to the November 2, 2021 general election. The result came as somewhat of an upset, mainly due to the unexpected weakness of Dennis Kucinich who came in third despite polling placing him in first.

The primary's 16.2% voter turnout was the highest for a mayoral primary in Cleveland since 2005.

Endorsements

Debates 2021 Cleveland mayoral election debates  Date & time Host(s) Moderator(s) Link ParticipantsKey: Participant   Non-invitee   Invitee Bibb DiBello Jones Kelley Kucinich Reed Williams1 2

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error JustinBibb RossDiBello BlaineGriffin BasheerJones KevinKelley DickKnoth DennisKucinich ZackReed SandraWilliams UndecidedChange Research (D)August 3–8, 2021451 (LV)± 5.2%12%1%–11%13%–20%12%8%21%Baldwin Wallace UniversityBaldwin Wallace UniversityMarch 15 – April 22, 2021421 (A)± 5.0%5%1%5%13%6%2%18%9%7%48%RABA ResearchRABA ResearchDecember 29–30, 2020505 (RV)± 4.5%2%–6%5%10%–25%13%7%32%

Results

General election Campaign Due to both primary winners finding their strongest support in the West Side of Cleveland, both campaigns paid significant attention to the predominantly African-American East Side, where although Bibb was the best performing candidate, a majority of voters cast ballots for candidates other than Bibb or Kelley in the primary. On September 29, the two former East Side mayoral candidates Zack Reed and Basheer Jones made endorsements for Bibb and Kelley, respectively.

Bibb campaigned as a progressive who would change how the city works as mayor, while Kelley presented himself as a moderate and experienced politician who would be prepared to lead from the start of his tenure.

Bibb and Kelley delineated themselves heavily over Issue 24, a proposed amendment to the city charter of Cleveland that went to voters on the same ballot as the mayoral election, which would implement greater civilian oversight of the Cleveland Police Department. Bibb favored the initiative as a way to create accountability while Kelley rejected it as a danger which could potentially lead to an exodus of officers from the department. On election day, the issue passed with 32,184 votes in favor and 21,972 votes against.

Post-primary endorsements

Debates 2021 Cleveland mayoral election debates  Date & Time Host(s) Moderator(s) Link ParticipantsKey: Participant   Non-invitee   Invitee Bibb Kelley1

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error JustinBibb KevinKelley UndecidedBaldwin Wallace UniversityBaldwin Wallace UniversitySeptember 27 – October 8, 2021419 (RV)± 5.1%34%25%41%Pathway Polling (D)Pathway Polling (D)September 17–20, 2021492 (LV)± 4.1%30%32%38%

Results

Results by ward Bibb won 12 of Cleveland's 17 wards. Bibb found overwhelming support on the East Side of the city, while Kelley narrowly won the most votes on the West Side.

Results by wardWardBibbKelleyTotal votesTurnout % Votes % Votes % 1 3,786 87.05% 563 12.95% 4,349 27.3% 2 2,373 82.45% 505 17.55% 2,878 20.9% 3 3,172 74.15% 1,106 25.85% 4,278 24.2% 4 2,872 85.76% 477 14.24% 3,349 24.4% 5 1,356 80.62% 326 19.38% 1,682 13.9% 6 2,279 80.56% 550 19.44% 2,829 20.4% 7 1,932 76.33% 599 23.67% 2,531 17.6% 8 2,664 69.54% 1,167 30.46% 3,831 27.0% 9 2,326 82.98% 477 17.02% 2,803 19.3% 10 2,093 82.18% 454 17.82% 2,547 19.0% 11 1,330 50.96% 1,280 49.04% 2,610 18.5% 12 1,355 42.96% 1,799 57.04% 3,154 23.0% 13 1,239 26.69% 3,403 73.31% 4,642 31.8% 14 766 45.79% 907 54.21% 1,673 13.1% 15 2,599 68.05% 1,220 31.95% 3,819 24.2% 16 1,382 40.46% 2,034 59.54% 3,416 24.2% 17 2,614 36.82% 4,485 63.18% 7,099 43.2%

Notes

Non-independent clients

References

External links After Jackson, NPR-WCPN podcast on the mayoral election

Official campaign websites Justin Bibb for Mayor Ross DiBello for Mayor Basheer Jones for Mayor Kevin Kelley for Mayor Dennis Kucinich for Mayor Zack Reed for Mayor Sandra Williams for Mayor