Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman will run as an independent for Hamilton County commissioner

CINCINNATI (Cincinnati Enquirer) - After the past 10 years on Cincinnati City Council, Cincinnati’s Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman now wants to represent all of Hamilton County, according to our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Smitherman will run as an independent candidate for Hamilton County commissioner, according to an email he sent to supporters on Thursday evening.

There has been speculation for more than a year that the North Avondale resident could run for countywide office.

Smitherman in the email asked his supporters to help him gather signatures. As an independent, he will need 3,400 signatures to get on the ballot.

Smitherman already has his campaign website running, smithermanforcommissioner.com.

Smitherman didn’t return messages seeking comment from the Enquirer.

Smitherman would run for the seat occupied by Democrat Stephanie Summerow Dumas. Dumas is the only one of the three commissioners up for election in 2022.

Dumas hasn’t announced her plans and didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment, the Enquirer reports.

So far, no one has pulled petitions to run for Hamilton County Board of Commissioners yet, according to the county board of elections.

The Democrats took complete control of the county board of commissioners in 2018 when Dumas won the election in a surprising upset of veteran Republican Chris Monzel.

Smitherman would be a well-known political veteran in the race. He won his first election to Cincinnati City Council in 2003, running as a Charterite. He served a two-year term He became president of the local chapter of the NAACP in 2007, a post he held until 2014.

He returned to council as an independent in 2011, where he’s served for the past decade

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