East Cleveland mayor's race draws five official candidates for the September 12, 2017 primary election, and two people did not make the ballot, the general election of which is November.....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman

Pictured are official candidates for the 2017 Sept. 12 East Cleveland mayoral primary of Mayor Brandon King (wear blue suit and no eye glasses), Una H.R. Keenon, Mansell Baker (eraing blue suit and eye glasses) and Devin Branch (wearing brown suit) (Not pictured-Dana Hawkins Jr.). The deadline for filing petitions for the Sept. 12 primary ballot has passed and the general election is Nov. 7, all candidates but Branch of whom are Democrats, and Branch running as a Green Party candidate, which will pit him against the winner of the primary election for the November general election. No Republican took out petitions to run for mayor in the 99 percent Black and impoverished city, a Cleveland suburb on the verge of financial collapse that is known for its colorful politicians, tenacious leaders, and political infighting

 

CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM-EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio-The 2017 race for East Cleveland mayor has drawn five official candidates, namely Mayor Brandon King, Una H.R. Keenon, who is president of the East Cleveland Board of Education, former councilman Mansell Baker, Dana Hawkins Jr, and activist Devin Branch.

 

A retired East Cleveland judge and vice president and former vice president of the Black Women's Political Action Committee of greater Cleveland, Keenon is the most seasoned of the five candidates, all of whom are Black.

 

No Republican took out petitions for the highly talked about mayoral race.

 

Korean Stevenson and Kari Oatman, 32, articulate, and a political neophyte, did not make the ballot after coming up short for the 50 required signatures, a Cuyahoga County Board of Elections spokesperson said.

 

The deadline to file petition signatures for the Sept 12 primary has passed, all but Branch of whom are Democrats, and Branch running as a Green Party candidate, a move that will pit him against the primary winner for the Nov. 7 general election.

 

Branch collected the signatures for the successful effort last year to recall former mayor Gary Norton and former council president Thomas Wheeler, both of them King allies, and King stepping up as mayor per the city charter.

 

Branch was appointed to city council last December but subsequently removed by King via a still pending dispute.

 

He was exonerated of a misdemeanor charge that he assaulted Norton.

 

East Cleveland is a 99 percent Black impoverished Cleveland suburb and has roughly 18,000 residents.

 

The city has a median household income of $20,000, is a Democratic stronghold, and is on the verge of financial collapse.

 

Kay campaign issues, say political pundits, include the environment and a controversial toxic dump, jobs, housing and street repairs, and a possible merger with the largely Black major metropolitan city of Cleveland, a city with some 385,000 people, and some of the same problems such a  failing schools, poverty, and political infighting.