If Janaya Trotter is successful, she would be both the first woman and the first African-American prosecutor in Hamilton County’s history. Trotter, 31, is a lifelong county resident who graduated from Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase Law College in 2008.   

Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Fanon Rucker could be history in the making. Rucker is seeking a seat on the Ohio State Supreme Court. If he wins the Democratic primary and the general election, he then joins his father in being the first father and son to sit on a Supreme Court bench at the same time in U.S. history.    

Buoyed by a huge surge in new voter registrations prompted by Barack Obama's historic candidacy and the anti-incumbent fever sweeping the electorate, Democrats believe this is the year they'll finally unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, the longtime Republican incumbent.  

As Election Day creeps ever closer, it's time for CityBeat to start publishing election endorsements and help those remaining undecided voters get their act together. Given our niche in Greater Cincinnati as a voice for progressive causes, we've recommended candidates and ballot issue positions since our founding in 1994 and take that role seriously.