5/2/2023 0 Comments Akron beacon journalI'm in the process of scheduling an interview with Marco Sommerville, Deputy Mayor of Intergovernmental Affairs under Horrigan. I've met with Mark Greer, the former small business program manager under Mayor Dan Horrigan’s administration current city councilmembers Shammas Malik and Tara Mosley Keith Mills, intervention specialist at Collinwood High School in Cleveland cell phone store manager Joshua Schaffer and Summit County Councilmember and former Deputy Mayor for Administration Jeff Wilhite. That debate will be co-moderated by Andrew Meyer, deputy editor for news at Ideastream Public Media, and Rick Jackson, host of the “Sound of Ideas.” Questions will come from residents.įor the past few months, I’ve interviewed all but one of the candidates. at the main branch of the Akron Summit County Public Library in Downtown Akron. The second Akron Decides debate takes place April 12 at 7:30 p.m. Michael Shearer, Beacon Journal editor, will serve as the moderator. I will be joined by Mark Turner, former executive news editor at the Beacon Journal who is now at Ohio University, and Cheryl Powell, current managing editor of the Beacon Journal. I’m one of the journalists asking the seven candidates questions. It will be held at noon on April 5 at Quaker Station in Downtown Akron. The first big coverage event on the horizon is the Akron Decides mayoral debate, which Ideastream is conducting with the Akron Press Club, The Akron Beacon Journal and the Ohio Debate Commission. Throughout that month, Ideastream Public Media is committed to bringing voters trustworthy, informative and timely coverage of the race. Still, the chance of an independent defeating a candidate from the party that’s dominated the mayor’s office for more than 40 years is pretty slim.Įssentially, we’re a month away from knowing Akron’s next mayor. The primary winner's only challenger would be a potential independent candidate, as independents have until May 1 to file for the race. No Republicans have filed to run, so whoever wins the Democratic primary race has an almost guaranteed shot of winning the general election. In Akron, however, the Democratic primary is May 2, just about a month from now. The two candidates with the most votes then compete in the general election a little less than two months later. In Cleveland, the mayoral primary takes place in September. It’s a whole different ballgame in Akron - and I’m not talking about Canal Park versus Progressive Field. It’s a good question, one I’ve gotten from some of my Ideastream colleagues who live closer to Cleveland and have the fierce matchup of Justin Bibb and Kevin Kelley in 2021 still fresh in their minds. You might be asking why I’m writing about the mayor’s race when the general election is in November, eight months from now. Current Mayor Dan Horrigan is not running for reelection, so this is the first time since 2015 that voters are considering a slate without an incumbent.
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