Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley launches campaign for Ohio governor

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley is officially launching his gubernatorial campaign.

His “John Cranley for Governor” website went live early Tuesday and he announced he is running for governor of Ohio in a web video shared on social media.

The video highlights “Cincinnati’s comeback story” along with Cranley’s “Ohio Comeback Plan”: An Alaska-style natural gas dividend, a guarantee of 30,000 jobs per year that pay at least $60,000 annually, and legalizing marijuana to help fund it.

Cranley, a Democrat, was elected mayor of Cincinnati in 2013 and “since then has led an unprecedented revitalization of his city; Cincinnati has shown a positive population growth for the first time in 60 years,” his campaign announced in a news release.

“In 2021, the Milken Institute ranked Cincinnati as the best performing city in Ohio, a ranking that evaluates job and wage growth, housing affordability, broadband access and high-tech GDP. Under his leadership, the city has also outpaced the state of Ohio in poverty reduction. And Mayor Cranley is spearheading an effort to invest in solar energy to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and make Cincinnati a leader in clean energy.

“I’m running for governor because Ohio is in desperate need of a comeback,” Cranley said in the prepared statement.

“I am the only candidate running with a detailed plan to bring our state back. Talk is cheap. If I don’t get it done in my first term, I won’t run again.

“I know a comeback is possible because we’ve done it in Cincinnati. After decades of decline, our city is growing again, with thousands of more jobs created. We can do the same for Ohio, but it will take leadership with guts, grit, and the courage to propose and implement big ideas.”

Cranley stopped by the FOX19 NOW studio Monday for a pre-announcement interview.

“What people know in Ohio is that outside Cincinnati and Columbus, the rest of the state is not doing so well, so they know things need to change,” he said.

“They like my ideas of jobs that build the infrastructure we need, legalizing marijuana, and creating a dividend. These are new bold ideas that will work for all of Ohio, and rebuild the middle class of Ohio.”

Cranley will face Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a fellow Democrat and friend, in the primary. Whaley’s profile grew following tornadoes and a mass shooting in 2019.

On Monday, Whaley unveiled her jobs plan a block away from Cincinnati City Hall, according to our media partner at the Enquirer.

Gov. Mike DeWine, former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci and Joe Blystone will be on the ballot in the Republican primary.

Ohio Republican Party Executive Director Justin Bis issued the following statement on Cranley’s gubernatorial bid:

“Ohioans need look no further than John Cranley’s mayoral record to know what kind of governor he would be—Cincinnatians face the third-highest homicide rate per capita in the nation and suffer from sky high poverty rates, double Ohio’s.

“Like fellow Democrat Nan Whaley, John Cranley failed the very people and city he was elected to serve in pursuit of a bigger job.”

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