Cleveland mayoral candidate Zack Reed submits signatures to get on the ballot to run for mayor of the largely Black urban city.... By editor Kathy Wray Colemanb of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black and alternative digital news leader

Cleveland mayoral candidate Zack Reed

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.  

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Cleveland mayoral candidate Zack Reed, a former councilman who lost a runoff election in 2017 to current Mayor Frank Jackson, announced on Tuesday that on Thursday he will submit the petition signatures that will qualify him to appear on the ballot for this year’s mayoral election. 

A Cleveland mayoral candidate must submit at least 3,000 valid signatures to make the ballot, and Reed has more than enough signatures,  his campaign said on Tuesday. 

A four-term Black mayor, Jackson said last month that he will not run for an unprecedented fifth four-year term. 

Reed said in a press release that he is set to deliver his petitions to the Cuyahoga Board of Elections on June 10  at 9:30 am.

He is  one of the first Cleveland mayoral candidate to likely qualify for the ballot to date.

State Sen. Sandra Williams and Justin Bibb have also filed their petiotions.

Reed spoke to the significance of the moment

 “Thursday marks an important milestone in our campaign," Reed said. "Now that we’re officially on the ballot, it’s time for me to shift my focus to listening to the residents, who will help me shape the vision for our future.”

In addition to Reed and Bibb, a non-profit executive, high profile people who have taken out petitions to run for mayor, among some 12 people, include state Sen. Sandra Williams,  Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley, Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones,  and Attorney Ross Dibello.

The top two  September primary winners will advance to the Nov. 2 general election.

Reed has stated that his campaign will continue to focus on providing Cleveland residents with transparent leadership.  

Then an east side councilman, he lost the non-partisan mayoral runoff to Jackson four years ago, getting 40 percent of the vote.

A Black Democrat, he had worked as a minority affairs coordinator for LaRose since 2019 after foregoing a reelection bid for his council seat in 2017 in hopes of unseating Jackson.

In a statement issued after Reed resigned to run for mayor, Ohio's secretary of state  Frank LaRose said Reed was an asset to his office.

"We’ll miss having him out in the field where he helped boost voter engagement and strengthened minority businesses," LaRose said in a farewell statement, "but I know his heart is in Cleveland and I wish him nothing but the best.”

Reed served for 16 years on city council, representing Ward 2 prior to his run for mayor four years ago, a largely Black east side ward that includes the Mount Pleasant, Union-Miles and Mill Creek Falls neighborhoods.

Elections for mayor and city council are held simultaneously in the same year, which keeps most of the city legislators on the 17- member city council from giving up a relatively safe council seat for a possible, and often unlikely, mayoral win. 

All 17 of the city council seats and the office of the mayor are up for grabs this year. 

During his 2017 bid for mayor Reed's campaign theme was "Safety First," where he pushed a progressive agenda, including more police on the streets to deal with heightened crime in inner city neighborhoods, improvements to Cleveland schools that the city mayor controls per state law, economic development, and better city services.

In launching his campaign for mayor this year he took on Black Lives Matter activists who are calling for police departments to be de-funded in Cleveland and nationwide, saying "no we are not going to de-fund the damn police." 

Currently, all 17 city council seats are held by Democrats, and the city's last three mayors, including Mayor Jackson, have also been Democrats.  

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.