Here are your morning headlines for Wednesday, November 3:
- Bibb wins Cleveland mayoral race
- Brown wins Cleveland-area U.S. House seat
- Summit county election results
- Cleveland’s Issue 24 passes
- 2 Ohio lawmakers introduce Texas-style abortion restriction
- Seren elected first mayor of Cleveland Heights
- Staffing woes force Sunday closures for capital city library
- Indians begin removing scripted name from stadium scoreboard
Bibb wins Cleveland mayoral race
(Ideastream Public Media) – Justin Bibb has won the Cleveland mayoral race, ensuring that the city’s longest-serving leader will give way to one of its youngest. Bibb defeated Council President Kevin Kelley by a substantial margin, about 25 points. The 34-year-old non-profit executive will be Cleveland's second-youngest mayor. Dennis Kucinich was 31-years-old when he won the 1977 Cleveland mayoral election. Mayor Frank Jackson had endorsed Kelley to succeed him. He’ll leave office after 16 years leading City Hall.
Brown wins Cleveland-area U.S. House seat
(AP) — Democrat Shontel Brown coasted to victory to win an open U.S. House seat that includes parts of Cuyahoga and Summit counties. The Cuyahoga County Council member complete former Congresswoman Marcia Fudge’s term that expires at the end of next year. Republican coal lobbyist Mike Carey defeated two-term Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo to win a second up-for-grabs congressional district in central Ohio. Carey was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. The results of Tuesday's special elections leave Democrats with a 221-213 advantage over Republicans in Congress, with Carey and Brown each retaining a seat for their respective party.
Summit county election results
(WKSU) – Voters in Summit County decided some contentious races Tuesday, as well as a few which ended in a landslide. In Hudson, three incumbents for school board were re-elected over two challengers, running on an anti-masking, anti-Critical Race Theory. Similar results occurred in Nordonia, also with three open seats. The races mirrored a national trend of increased interest in school boards as they have become a political litmus test for social issues. Elsewhere in the county, Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters took almost 70% of the vote to secure a third term over Republican Meri Stemple. The race for Stow Court Clerk also went to a Democrat – incumbent Amber Zibritosky – over Republican and former Stow Councilman Mike Rasor. Previously, he narrowly lost to Casey Weinstein in a 2018 race for an Ohio House of Representatives seat.
Cleveland’s Issue 24 passes
(WKSU) -- Clevelanders passed a police oversight measure easily on Tuesday, with almost 60% of the vote. Issue 24 creates a 13-member Community Police Commission that will take over final decisions on police discipline, department policies, and officer training. It will also have a guaranteed minimum yearly budget and sweeping powers to start investigations into individual officers.
2 Ohio lawmakers introduce Texas-style abortion restriction
(AP) — Two Republican lawmakers in Ohio have introduced Texas-style legislation that could effectively end all abortions in the state. State Reps. Jena Powell and Thomas Hall unveiled their bill Tuesday, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the model Texas law. Justices are deciding whether to allow a legal challenge to proceed. The measure subjects clinics, doctors and any others who facilitate abortions to large financial penalties tied to lawsuits citizens could bring against them and makes it difficult to mount legal challenges. The fact that the woman wanted an abortion is not a defense against litigation.
Seren elected first mayor of Cleveland Heights
(Ideastream Public Media) -- Kahlil Seren will be Cleveland Heights’ first elected mayor. He has served on the city council since 2015. Seren came in second in the September primary behind Barbara Danforth, but he handily defeated the former YWCA CEO by 20 percentage points in unofficial results Tuesday. Danforth’s campaign had been plagued by missteps including a controversial statement she made in an endorsement interview with the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats. Cleveland Heights voters approved a ballot measure in 2019 creating the position of a directly elected mayor. This year the city celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Staffing woes force Sunday closures for capital city library
(AP) — Staff shortages have forced the library system serving Ohio's capital city and some surrounding suburbs to close on Sundays for at least two months. The closures reflect ongoing challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic. A Columbus Metropolitan Library spokesman said that the 23-branch system, which normally employs about 870 full and part-time staff, currently has almost 160 unfilled positions. The system furloughed more than 600 workers last year following stay-at-home orders that shuttered businesses across the state.
Indians begin removing scripted name from stadium scoreboard
(AP) — The Cleveland Indians have begun removing the scripted logo atop the giant scoreboard at Progressive Field as they transition their name to the Guardians. Crews started dismantling the letters Tuesday, beginning with the “I” on the 80-foot-long sign. It’s another step in the offseason change for the Major League Baseball team. The American League franchise had been known as the Indians since 1915 but announced earlier this year it was changing its name in a move prompted by a national reckoning on racist names and symbols. The removal of the letters is expected to take several days. The team will place the sign in storage while evaluating options for a permanent spot for it.
