Canton’s next mayor is a lifelong resident and labor union leader.
Democrat William Sherer II defeated his Republican opponent Roy Scott DePew, earning 68% of the vote, according to unofficial election results.
Sherer gave his victory speech at Conestoga Grill in Downtown Canton among his family members, supporters and members of the Ironworkers Local #550. Sherer has served as the business manager of the union for nearly 20 years.
"We've got a lot of stuff to take care of in this city. Absolutely we do," Sherer said. "We are not going to be able to move this city forward without safety, and we are not going to be able to move this city forward without Canton City Schools."
Sherer emphasized working together with residents as well as his colleagues on city council.
"What we need to do is we need to listen better, and we also need to communicate better," he said.
Sherer’s campaign focused on safety and investing in neighborhood improvements.
This was the first Canton mayoral election in decades without an incumbent. Current Mayor Tom Bernabei announced last year that he would not seek reelection after serving two terms.
Sherer is a 1988 graduate of McKinley High School. He and DePew both went to school there and remain good friends. DePew says he’s happy for Sherer.
“I believe in the man, I’ve known him - we’ve known each other since seventh grade. Like I’ve said this from the getgo: whoever got voted in, the city wins.”
DePew also says he may consider running for an elected office in the future.
Sherer resides on the northwest side of Canton with his wife. He has three adult daughters and two grandchildren.
The Sherer family settled in Canton in 1910, he said. His father and grandfather also served in leadership positions for the ironworkers’ union, and his father also served as vice chair of Stark County Democrats.
“In a sense, all I ever wanted to do is follow in my father's footsteps politically and, you know, for the ironworkers,” Sherer said.
Sherer does not consider himself a “career politician,” he said, although he has served as president of city council for five years.
Writing Canton’s next chapter
When Sherer takes office Jan. 1, he plans to tackle safety and crime. The city continues to experience an uptick in violent crime and staffing shortages in the police department.
The city is also facing poverty, with several neighborhoods labeled “persistently poor” by the U.S. Census for decades.
Sherer also has economic priorities, as efforts to revitalize Downtown and support the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village, a 100-acre sports and entertainment destination, have been economic boons for the city. However, some people, including Sherer, contend that this same level of funding and focus hasn't come to the city's neighborhoods.
“Every neighborhood is unique. There's 27 neighborhoods in the city,” Sherer previously told Ideastream Public Media. “For some neighborhoods, [the priority] might be safety, some neighborhoods might be infrastructure. They might want to get their street paved. But the focus for the last eight years has been about Downtown and the Hall of Fame Village.”
The city is also grappling with race relations and social justice issues in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of James Williams in January 2022.
Minutes after midnight, Officer Robert Huber fatally shot Williams through a wooden fence at Williams' home. Investigators said Huber was responding to the sound of gunfire. Williams' family said he was firing celebratory shots into the air with his AR-15. A Stark County grand jury declined to indict Huber on any charges, which deeply disappointed his family and sparked protests for police accountability.
Sherer told Ideastream Public Media he’d like to work with Police Chief John Gabbard to help build back the public’s trust in the police department. He’d also like officers to get better training.
"We cannot have enough training to try to avoid situations like that moving forward," Sherer said during a debate at the Cultural Center for the Arts in Canton on Oct. 10.
DePew, a notary trained to facilitate mortgage signings, and the Republican candidate in the race, focused on reducing crime and wanting to bring “change” in a city that hasn’t seen a Republican mayor since 2007.
Canton’s mayoral race was a relatively friendly competition. Sherer and DePew went to middle and high school together and considered each other good friends. They often refused to say any negative comments about each other in interviews and during the Oct. 10 debate.
They also agreed on each other’s vision for the city.
“I think it's kind of sad that one of us is going to win and one of us is not," DePew told Ideastream Public Media in a previous interview. "Either way, I believe the city will win."
This is a developing story and will be updated.
