CINCINNATI (AP) 鈥� Cory Bowman was feeling inspired in January as he headed home after watching his half brother, , be inaugurated as .
The 36-year-old Bowman, who shares a father with Vance, was already active in the community, starting an evangelical church in Cincinnati鈥檚 West End and later opening a coffee shop. But he hadn鈥檛 thought politics was his calling.
Now, suddenly, he did. He decided to launch a campaign for mayor.
鈥淭here was nobody that pushed me into it, nobody that told me that this is a pathway I should go,鈥� he said in an interview one recent morning. 鈥淏ut I just thought this would be a great way to help impact the city in another realm as well, because that鈥檚 always been the focus.鈥�
Were he to pull an upset in this predominantly Democratic city, Bowman would be the latest family member of a president or vice president to serve in office. That includes , Trump鈥檚 first vice president, elected to Congress during their previous administration. In this case, however, Bowman says his run isn鈥檛 tied to national politics as much as a desire to improve the city.
鈥淲hat I want to run as is I鈥檓 somebody that deeply loves Cincinnati," Bowman said. "I do have a background in economics, statistics and administration, and so I can kind of see certain things with the city that we can do better at.鈥�
Cincinnati's mayor is a prominent Democrat
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, who is seeking reelection, is viewed as a rising star within the Democratic Party. Pureval, 42, is a lawyer and former special assistant U.S. attorney who previously served as Hamilton County Clerk of Courts and ran for Congress. He won the 2021 mayor's race in Ohio's third largest city with nearly 66% of the vote.
Bowman, a Republican, said he chose to run for mayor partly because it was the seat most immediately up for grabs and partly because it bothered him that Pureval was running unopposed. Another GOP candidate 鈥� procurement professional Brian Frank, 66 鈥� jumped into the race around that same time for the same reason, setting up a three-way primary next month.
Cincinnati mayoral races are nonpartisan, so the top two vote-getters on May 6 will face each other in November.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 fantastic that I鈥檓 not running unopposed,鈥� Pureval said, saying he believes it's important for Cincinnati voters to have different visions from which to choose.
He was standing outside the ribbon-cutting on a new apartment complex downtown that had just opened inside the former headquarters. It's the type of transformation Pureval cites among his accomplishments, also pointing to the city's growing population and double-digit drop in violent crime.
Bowman views the city as home
Bowman moved to Cincinnati around 2020 and did not vote in the last mayor's race. Pureval made an issue of his opponent's relatively short time as a city resident to suggest "he doesn鈥檛 necessarily have a track record or a deep commitment to the city, or relationships in that way.鈥�
Bowman grew up on a farm outside Hamilton, about 25 miles (40.23 kilometers) north. He said his family 鈥渁lways considered Cincinnati our home, this area our home, this (Ohio River) valley.鈥�
He said his family bounced back and forth a lot between Ohio and Florida, because their father, Donald Bowman, who died in 2023, was a custom home builder.
Cory Bowman attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he earned a degree in economics and business administration, then returned to Florida to study the ministry at River University in Tampa. It was there that he met his wife, who's from Oklahoma, and "convinced her to love Cincinnati as much as me.鈥�
They moved back and started The River Church Cincinnati, where they are co-pastors, then opened Kings Arms Coffee two years later. Vance, who was , had moved back to the state a little earlier. He and his wife, Usha, bought their house in Cincinnati in 2018.
Vance is 鈥榥ot a political counselor,鈥� Bowman says
According to Vance鈥檚 best-selling memoir, 鈥� ,鈥� Donald Bowman's other children were more or less strangers to him when he was a child. Vance's biological father had given him up for adoption and his mother even to erase any memory of the man from their lives.
But Cory Bowman says that Vance eventually remedied the situation. When he was 13, he asked to meet Donald Bowman and his younger brother and sister. Cory remembers fondly the future vice president coming to visit and the two of them playing basketball.
They鈥檝e since developed a strong bond, he said, strengthened through going to college in Ohio at around the same time and getting married and becoming parents in tandem. Both have three children 鈥� two boys and a girl, ages 7, 5 and 3. Bowman's wife, Jordan, is expecting their fourth child in June.
Vance, 40, is not taking an active role in the campaign. The vice president's office declined to comment on Bowman's run, and Bowman has acknowledged that he does not have Vance's endorsement 鈥� at least not yet.
鈥淎s far as the relationship with JD, I tell people he鈥檚 my brother, he鈥檚 not a political counselor to me,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淗e is not somebody that planted me here in this city.鈥�
At campaign events and debates, Bowman opposed Cincinnati's sanctuary city status, promised to keep children safe and pledged to improve snow removal and fill potholes.
Cincinnati voter Desiree Terry, 34, said that she wasn't thinking about local government right now because, in her words, 鈥渢he world is exploding.鈥�
But if she votes in the mayoral race, she'll probably choose Pureval. Asked about supporting a relative of Vance's, Terry said, 鈥淚t's a no.鈥�
鈥淚 just think he鈥檚 helping with the chaos and I don鈥檛 want chaos locally,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t's already all around us, but it鈥檚 not hitting at home yet, and I feel like if he鈥檚 here it鈥檚 going to hit home, because it鈥檚 already everywhere else, so I鈥檇 rather not.鈥�
Julie Carr Smyth, The Associated Press
