Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson endorses Kevin Kelley for mayor, paving the way for a possible White mayor of the largely Black Cleveland, the second most segregated city in the nation behind Boston.... By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black and alternative digital news leader

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Cleveland's third Black mayor, and Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.comTel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

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

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Retiring four-term Black mayor Frank Jackson, Cleveland's third Black mayor and its longest serving mayor, has endorsed longtime ally Council President Kevin Kelley to replace him, paving the way for a possible White mayor of the 58 percent Black major American city of some 372,000 residents. 

Kelley is a  west side councilman who leads Ward 13 and has been a councilman since 2005. Also a practicing attorney, he has been city council president since 2014. 

The nonpartisan primary election is set for Sept 14 and the general election in which the top two vote-getters will square off is Nov. 2

“I have worked with Kevin for more than 20 years and during this time, he has made hard decisions," Jackson said in a statement on Wednesday. "Those decisions weren’t always in his own political interest, but they were the right decisions for the people of Cleveland. His decisions have helped position Cleveland for the future and are motivated by the need to continue to make our neighborhoods stronger and safer."

The mayor went on to say that "I am confident that, as mayor, Kevin Kelley will continue to lead with integrity and put the best interests of Clevelanders first." 

Kelley told reporters that he is appreciative of the mayor's endorsement and called it "an honor."

How much influence Jackson will have on voters regarding his endorsement of Kelley remains to be seen. While Kelley is a front-runner, the mayoral primary race is still up in the air as to who will win.

Others candidates in the seven-way primary race, all of them Democrats, are state Sen. Sandra Williams (D-21), whose campaign is gaining steam, former congressman and one-time city mayor Dennis Kucinich, attorney Ross DiBello, Justin Bibb, whom the Cleveland Plain Dealer endorsed on Sunday, Ward 7 Councilman Bashear Jones, and former Ward 2 Councilman Zack Reed, who lost a mayoral runoff to Jackson in 2017.  

A Morehouse graduate, Jones is popular, though controversial,  and has raised nearly a half million dollars in campaign monies, and Bibb has more than $275,000 on hand. 

Kuncinich, Kelley and DiBello are the only Whites in the race to lead the city, a city that struggles with poverty, rising crime, low performing public schools, and a debilitating housing market. Whether the primary will render two Blacks for the November runoff election or a White candidate and a Black candidate also remains to be seen. 

Two Whites in this year's runoff, like Kelley and Kucinich, is unlikely, sources said, regardless of the popularity of Kucinich  at 74-years-old.

Williams is the only woman in the race.

Cleveland is the second most segregated city in the country behind Boston with most Blacks living on the east side and most Whites residing  on the west side, the two sides separated by the Cuyahoga River.  

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

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.