Candidates for Cleveland City Council have spent somewhere around $720,000 trying to win council seats this year.
Here’s a list of the top 10 spenders among council candidates with contested races, based on filings with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
This is a preliminary look at spending and fundraising between January 2025 and mid-October. The board hasn’t double-checked candidates’ numbers yet, and some candidates haven’t filed their disclosures.
In some cases, candidates spent more than they raised this year. That’s because they started the year with money in the pot.
The most expensive race in the city this year is the contest between Richard Starr and Rebecca Maurer, two sitting council members running against one another in the redrawn Ward 5. The two candidates have spent almost $188,000 together.
The new Ward 7 hosts the second priciest race. Mohammad Faraj and Austin Davis, both attorneys with well-funded campaigns, are competing for the open seat in Ohio City, Tremont and Detroit-Shoreway. Together they’ve spent more than $107,000.
Next are the races in Wards 10 and 12. Collinwood council members Anthony Hairston and Michael Polensek have spent $91,000 running in the new Ward 10. Council Member Danny Kelly and challenger Tanmay Shah spent almost $90,000 in the new Ward 12.
Honorable mention: We didn’t include Council President Blaine Griffin on the list because he is running unopposed. But he has plenty of campaign cash in the bank. He reported almost $258,000 on hand at last check.
PAC man: Conservation Ohio, an environmental super political action committee, is giving a boost to two local candidates. The super PAC ran social media ads and sent out a mailer supporting Mayor Justin Bibb and Austin Davis, whom it labels “Cleveland’s climate champions.”
Conservation Ohio hasn’t yet disclosed how much it spent on the two races. It received a $100,000 donation in September from the Green Advocacy Project, a 501(c)4 nonprofit led by San Francisco-area entrepreneur Michael Kieschnick.
Mayoral money: Bibb has spent $435,000 on his reelection bid since the start of July, a new campaign finance filing shows. That far outpaces his opponent, Laverne Gore, who spent $11,275.
Bibb received $7,500 maximum contributions from the hospitality worker labor union Unite Here, the Realtors PAC and the Next 50 PAC, which backs Democrats it labels “next-generation candidates.” One notable expense from the mayor’s campaign: $20,000 for ad production. (You’ve probably seen his ad online while scrolling Cleveland.com.)
Gore is largely self-funding. She raised almost $1,500 from individual donors and loaned her campaign $10,000.
Catch up with Cleveland’s candidates
If you’re a Cleveland voter and you need to freshen up on where the city’s candidates stand, here’s a quick guide to our questionnaires and coverage.
Ward 1: Council Member Joe Jones vs. state Rep. Juanita O. Brent
Ward 3: Council Member Deborah Gray vs. Erich V. Stubbs
Ward 4: Council Member Kris Harsh vs. Rehan Waheed
Ward 5: Council Member Richard Starr vs. Council Member Rebecca Maurer
Ward 7: Austin Davis vs. Mohammad Faraj
Ward 8: Council Member Stephanie Howse-Jones vs. Charlotte Perkins
Ward 9: Council Member Kevin Conwell vs. Alana Belle
Ward 10: Council Member Michael Polensek vs. Council Member Anthony Hairston
Ward 11: Nikki Hudson (the other candidate, Andrew Fontanarosa, dropped out)
Ward 12: Council Member Danny Kelly vs. Tanmay Shah
Ward 15: Council Member Charles Slife vs. Terell Bell (write-in)
And special thanks to the City Council candidates who filled out our survey even though they’re unopposed.
Municipal Court, general division
There are three races for Cleveland Municipal Court’s general division. Read the questionnaire answers here. The candidates are:
- In Son J. Loving vs. Heather McCollough
- TJ Dow vs. Khalilah Lawson
- Brett Horton, Nikki McGowan, Joseph Russo, Christopher Woodworth
Housing Court: Judge W. Moná Scott vs. Cheryl Wiltshire
