The first announced contender for Cincinnati’s next mayoral election in 2021 says that he’s dropping out of contention.
Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman, an independent, released a statement today revealing he will discontinue his run for mayor to focus on his family.
A year ago today, Smitherman’s wife Pamela succumbed to breast cancer — a driving factor in his decision to end his mayoral bid, he says.
“As a widowed father of five, I have a higher calling at this time,” Smitherman wrote in his statement. “I am determined to give my children as much love and attention as I can. Running for mayor would make that impossible.”
Smitherman says he will continue to serve on Cincinnati City Council and on the city’s Planning Commission and other committees and groups.
“This statement serves as a pause, not an end, to my political aspirations,” Smitherman wrote. “I look forward to a return to the pursuit of higher service when the time is right.”
Smitherman launched his mayoral bid in August, 2018.
You can read his entire statement here.
This article appears in Jan 8-21, 2020.