Thursday, April 21, 2011

State of the City Speech Tonight: What Will the Mayor's Message Be?

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory will give his State of the City Speech tonight (April 21st) at the Duke Center. This will be an opportunity for the Mayor to update the City on what the next step will be for the Streetcar Project, since State funding was removed for partisan political reasons by Ohio Governor John Kasich. I hope the takes advantage of that opportunity.  We need a plan to move forward.

With the City elections coming up later this year, I also wonder if the speech will contain other issues that will form a rally point for Democratic candidates, both incumbents and challengers. The Mayor is a lame duck, so he does not have the sway inside the city's political circles. There is a Federal election coming up in 2012 and no Democratic candidates have announced, so if the Mayor is looking to put his hat into the ring and face Steve Chabot, this would be a chance to preview himself to a wider audience.

Candidates for congress in 2012 need to be working towards that immediately, if they plan on winning. The only thing holding them back is redistricting, which will be controlled by Republicans. The issue facing us locally will be how much of Hamilton County will Republicans give to District 1 (Chabot) and how much do they give District 2 (Schmidt). Hamilton County is majority Dem right now, barely, so neither incumbent really wants more of the County in their district, unless you cut it up like Swiss cheese.

If Mayor Mallory doesn't run, who else is positioned to run?

3 comments:

  1. David Pepper might be well-positioned to run for the District 1 seat in 2012. With that said, I'm not sure if he lives in District 1 or District 2.

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  2. Pepper I thought lives in 2. I am thinking he has more of a statewide goal, and doest't want to go to DC.

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  3. It all depends on how the GOP draws the lines ;)

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