Akron Democrats had a strong showing in Tuesday’s General Election. Many gathered at the Duck Club in downtown Akron for general election results, which ushered in a second four-year term for Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan.
Horrigan says his administration plans to move many big initiatives forward that were started in this first term, such as supporting small business through the development of the Bounce Innovation Hub and the Great Streets program. He also points to the Akron Parks Challenge, designed to reinvigorate local parks and the Vacant Building Registry to reduce neighborhood blight.
“I’m extremely proud of those efforts of the very big things,” he said. “These are institutional changes that we’ve been able to institute and move forward, so we’re looking to really take the next steps on a lot of those things. And also look for opportunities on how do we improve people’s lives on a daily basis, when it comes to economics, when it comes to education and when it comes to health. And I think we’ll look at any sort of idea that kind of pushes that forward.”
City Council also retained its president, Margo Sommerville, who beat challenging Republican Michael Downey by a wide margin in final unofficial results. Sommerville said she is excited about several newcomers who also won.
“For the very first time in Akron City Council history we’ll actually have five brand new members coming on at the same time,” she said. “And the great thing about it is these five individuals are just great individuals who have a lot of great ideas. Just really excited about seeing the council come together to work on more projects as we really look forward to moving the city forward.”
The five new Democrats include At-large representative Ginger Baylor, and Phil Lombardo, Ward 2; Brad Mc Kitrick, Ward 6; Shammas Malik, Ward 8; and Sharon L. Connor, Ward 10.
