Voter Information: Do Cleveland City Council Incumbents Deserve Your Vote?

By Angela Hay

The race for positions on Cleveland’s City Council includes two types of candidates: prospective candidates, who have not served in those roles before, and incumbent candidates, who currently hold the job. In Ohio, incumbent candidates are re-elected 96% of the time. They usually have higher name recognition and more access to funding, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best choice to serve the city. In the upcoming election, incumbent candidates are being challenged in Wards 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12. Here are some strategies you can use to determine if the incumbent candidate in your ward deserves your vote in the upcoming election.

All current members of City Council have official pages where you can find brief biographies, lists of committees on which they serve, and schedules of upcoming events. Some candidates also share ward newsletters, which they use to communicate directly with their constituents, offering a look into the personalities and priorities. These newsletters are usually linked at the bottom of the candidate’s official page.

New Ward 8 incumbent Stephanie D. Howse-Jones, for example, provides detailed accounts of City Council work via her ward newsletter, “Scenes and Sounds of 7.” The Summer 2025 issue highlights her legislative accomplishments, including the establishment of paid parental leave for city employees and the passage of the Pay Equity and Transparency ordinance which Howse co-sponsored.Like all candidates, incumbents have campaign websites and social  media pages run by themselves and their teams. These will give you a sense of what the candidate wants you to know but will leave out information subjectively.

Balance the incumbent-controlled sources with the rest of the internet. Search the candidate’s name with “Cleveland City Council.” This will reveal news stories, mentions, and alternative opinions that the official sites may not include. If nothing interesting shows up, try adding modifiers like “controversy,” “court case,” “attacks,” and “defends” to your search.

Searching “Joe Jones Cleveland news,” for example, turns up a barrage of troublesome articles about this Ward 1 incumbent. Jones has been recently investigated for death threats, improper gift giving, and inappropriate behavior towards women.

You’ll also find Jones’s recent response to these allegations, as reported by SignalCleveland.org: “My people, they are a gracious people. They understand that this is a political season, and when you’re in a political season, people come after you.”

Reviewing an incumbent candidate’s voting record will help you understand how he or she has shaped the city. This is a lengthy process that requires you to investigate each ordinance and resolution, but it may provide the information you need. Start by opening the City Record, which is created after the Council meeting each week. Find “Ordinances and Resolutions” in the Table of Contents. Open each ordinance, read it to get a sense of what it is about, and then scroll to the bottom. The votes of all council members in attendance are recorded there.

In the City Record from Sept. 5, for example, you will find that all members at that meeting voted “yea” on every issue brought before the Council. A voter craving change in Cleveland may decide to choose someone who thinks differently from the rest of the group.

In accordance with the City Charter, all Council meetings are open to the public. They usually take place at the Council Chambers on Mondays at 7 PM. You can also find recordings of the meeting on the Cleveland City Council YouTube Live page. Of the strategies listed here, this one is the most time-consuming but will provide the most information.