The Cincinnati City Council is the lawmaking body of Cincinnati, Ohio. The nine-member city council is elected at-large in a single election in which each voter chooses nine candidates from the field. The nine top vote-getters win seats on the council for a two-year term.

Until the charter of 1925, the council comprised 32 members—six elected at-large and 26 elected from single-member wards. The 1925 charter instituted the present nine-member council elected in a single non-partisan, at-large election. From 1925 to 1955, elections were under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation.Barber, Kathleen. Proportional Representation and Election Reform in Ohio. Ohio State University Press, 1995. The mayor was chosen by the council from among its members. In the 1970s, the system was changed so that the top vote-getter in the council election automatically became mayor. Since 2001, the mayor is chosen in a separate election.

Although the election officially is non-partisan, the local Charterite party and three of the major political parties (Democratic, Republican, and Green Party) all endorse candidates in the race. Party designations, however, can be fluid. After the 1997 election, for example, Democrats Minette Cooper and Dwight Tillery formed a majority coalition on the council with Republicans Charlie Winburn, Phil Heimlich, and Jeanette Cissell.

Prior to 2013, council members were elected for two-year terms. In 2013, a referendum was passed changing City Council to four-year terms. In 2018, two competing proposals were placed on the ballot to modify the structure of the City Council yet again. Issue 10 would bring back two-year terms; Issue 11 would keep four-year terms but stagger them, such that five council members would be elected in a mayoral election year, and four council members would be elected two years later. Issue 10 passed with a larger margin of victory, and the City Council returned to two-year terms beginning with the 2021 election.

The next city council election is scheduled for November 2027.

Cincinnati City Council Members Council Member Party First elected Other Positions Notes Jan-Michele Kearney Democrat 2020 (Appointed) Vice Mayor Replaced Tamaya Dennard on March 11, 2020, who resigned after federal charges of bribery. Jeff Cramerding Democrat 2021 Mark Jeffreys Democrat 2021 Scotty Johnson Democrat 2021 Meeka Owens Democrat 2021 Seth Walsh Democrat 2022 (Appointed) Replaced Greg Landsman on December 19, 2022, who resigned to serve OH-01 Anna Albi Democrat 2023 Evan Nolan Democrat 2024 (Appointed)Replaced Reggie Harris on October 11, 2024, who resigned to serve as the deputy assistant secretary of economic development in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Ryan James Democrat 2025

Election results Italic type indicates incumbent. (D) indicates Democratic Party candidate. (R) indicates Republican Party candidate. (G) indicates Green party candidate. (C) indicates Charter Committee candidate. (I) indicates no party affiliation.

Year Winning candidates Losing candidates 2025 Jan-Michele Kearney (D): 43,971Scotty Johnson (D): 40,781Meeka D. Owens (D):39,826Anna Albi (D): 39,028Mark Jeffreys (D): 38,380Seth Walsh (D): 36,176Jeff Cramerding (D): 34,870Evan Nolan (D): 34,790Ryan James (D): 33,689 Liz Keating (C, R): 24,526Christopher Smitherman (I): 17,496 2023 Jan-Michele Kearney (D): 49,033Meeka D. Owens (D): 48,825Reggie Harris (D):48,443Victoria Parks (D): 45,490Scotty Johnson (D): 44,899Mark Jeffreys (D): 44,544Anna Albi (D): 43,973Jeff Cramerding (D): 41,983Seth Walsh (D): 39,950 Liz Keating (C, R): 36,176 2021 Jan-Michele Kearney (D): 28,161Greg Landsman (D): 26,532Reggie Harris (D):25,305Meeka Owens (D): 24,177Victoria Parks (D): 22,443Scotty Johnson (D): 19,888Jeff Cramerding (D): 19,356Mark Jeffreys (D): 18,433Liz Keating (C, R): 17,156 Michelle Dillingham (I): 15,618Philip O'Neal (D): 14,995Kevin Flynn (C): 13,665Betsy Sundermann (R): 13,599Steve Goodin (C, R): 12,594Jim Tarbell (C): 11,526Brian Garry (I): 10,066Thomas Brinkman (R): 9,642John Williams (C): 8,200LaKeisha Cook (I): 7,021Jackie Frondorf (C): 6,815Jaime Castle (I): 6,266Peterson Mingo (I): 5,163Evan Holt (DSA): 5,013Kurt Grossman (I): 4,876Bill Frost (C): 4,614Galen Gordon (C): 4,107Stacy Smith (I): 4,007Te'Airea Powell (I): 3,988Jalen Alford (I): 3,066Rob Harris II (I):2,587Andrew Kennedy (I):2,393John Maher (I): 2,117Logan Simmering (G): 1,608K.A. Heard Jr (G):1,461Nick Jabin (I): 1,319 2017 P.G. Sittenfeld (D): 39,815David Mann (C, D): 35,789Chris Seelbach (D): 30,626Wendell Young (D): 28,295Christopher Smitherman (I): 27,149Tamaya Dennard (C, D): 26,053Greg Landsman (D): 25,049Amy Murray (C, R): 23,888Jeff Pastor (R): 21,996 Michelle Dillingham (D): 21,773Ozie Davis (D): 18,671Lesley Jones (D): 18,345Laure Quinlivan (I): 16,758Derek Bauman (C): 16,680Henry Frondorf (C): 10,637Seth Maney (R): 10,114Brian Garry (G): 9,152Kelli Prather (I): 7,175Tamie Sullivan (G): 6,232Tonya Dumas (I): 6,186Erica L. Black-Johnson (I): 5,539Cristina Burcica (I): 4,150Manuel Foggie (I): 3,556Dadrien Washington (I): 125 2013 P.G. Sittenfeld (D): 37,484Charlie Winburn (R): 27,397David Mann (C, D): 26,443Yvette Simpson (C, D): 25,449Chris Seelbach (D): 23,738Christopher Smitherman (I): 23,604Wendell Young (D): 22,600Kevin Flynn (C): 22,059Amy Murray (C, R): 21,979 Laure Quinlivan (D): 21,079Greg Landsman (C, D): 19,619Michelle Dillingham (D): 19,143Pam Thomas (D): 18,499Vanessa White (C): 16,892Sam Malone (R): 16,462Mellisa Wegman (R): 9,942Shawn Butler (D): 9,788Mike Moroski (I): 8,688Angela Beamon (I): 7,943Kevin Johnson (I): 6,647Timothy Joseph Dorsbrusch (I): 4,006 2011 Roxanne Qualls (C, D): 38,903P.G. Sittenfeld (D): 31,673Wendell Young (D): 30,526Cecil Thomas (D): 30,405Charlie Winburn (R): 30,080Laure Quinlivan (D): 28,601Yvette Simpson (C, D): 28,589Christopher Smitherman (I): 24,981Chris Seelbach (D): 24,494 Chris Bortz (C): 22,805Kevin Flynn (C): 22,631Amy Murray (R): 22,096Leslie Ghiz (R): 21,391Jason Riveiro (D): 19,025Wayne Lippert (R): 18,973Mike Allen (I): 17,167Nicholas Hollan (D): 15,309Catherine Smith Mills (R): 13,913Pat McCollum (I): 6,497Kathy Atkinson (I): 5,220Jacqueline Allen (I): 4,829Sandra Queen Noble (I): 2,890Orlando Welborn (I): 34 2009 Roxanne Qualls (C, D):Qualls was endorsed by the Charter Committee and the Democratic Party. Qualls' clout grows; options abound 43,513Cecil Thomas (D): 35,690Chris Bortz (C): 32,911Jeff Berding (I):The Democratic Party withdrew its endorsement of Berding. Mallory more focused on 9 30,509Leslie Ghiz (R): 30,050Chris Monzel (R): 29,786Charlie Winburn (R): 29,055Y. Laketa Cole (D): 28,976Laure Quinlivan (D): 28,775 Greg Harris (D):After John Cranley stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Harris was sworn in as his replacement on January 12, 2009. 25,216Bernadette Watson (D): 24,985Amy Murray (R): 23,667Kevin Flynn (C): 23,619Wendell Young (D): 22,100Tony Fischer (D): 21,742Nicholas Hollan (D): 18,096George Zamary (R): 12,834Anitra Brockman (G): 8,071LaMarque Ward (I): 7,806 2007 Roxanne Qualls (C):After James R. Tarbell stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Qualls was sworn in as his replacement on September 4, 2007. 33,775John Cranley (D): 33,772David Crowley (D): 31,124Cecil Thomas (D): 27,103Chris Bortz (C): 26,500Leslie Ghiz (R): 24,920Y. Laketa Cole (D): 24,900Jeff Berding (D): 23,586Chris Monzel (R): 23,336 Charlie Winburn (R): 22,080Minette Cooper (D): 18,941Sam Malone (R): 17,486Melanie Bates (C): 15,376Pat Fischer (R): 15,084Greg Harris (D): 14,184John Eby (R): 14,025Wendell Young (D): 13,963Brian Garry (D): 13,164Joan Kaup (C): 8,476Andre Harper (R): 7,499Justin Jeffre (G): 7,371Mitch Painter (I): 5,140Steve Pavelish (I): 4,213Michael Earl Patton (I): 3,149George Zamary (I): 2,203 2005 John Cranley (D): 35,603James R. Tarbell (C): 32,392Y. Laketa Cole (D): 29,966David Crowley (D): 29,856Leslie Ghiz (R): 29,758Jeff Berding (D): 28,344Chris Monzel (R):After R. Patrick DeWine stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Monzel was sworn in as his replacement on January 14, 2005. 27,911Chris Bortz (C): 27,304Cecil Thomas (D): 27,091 Sam Malone (R): 25,838Christopher Smitherman (C/G): 24,642Damon Lynch III (D): 22,556Wendell Young (D): 21,505Eve Bolton (D): 19,729John Eby (R): 16,272Samantha Herd (D): 14,306Nick Spencer (C): 9,462Paul Mcghee (I): 5,407Gerry Kraus (I): 4,719William S. "Stew" Mathews II (I): 3,915Robert J. Wilking (I): 3,762Ishaq Nadir (I): 3,208Eric Wilson (I): 3,082Michael Earl Patton (I): 2,770Curtis Wells (I): 2,482Robert Wilson (I): 2,319Ronnie T. Stallworth (I): 2,271Bill Barron (I): 1,849Bennie Green (I): 1,800Victor Phillips (I): 1,695Antonio Hodge (I): 1,276 2003 David Pepper (D): 34,405Alicia Reece (D): 32,078Y. Laketa Cole (D):After Paul Booth stepped down from his seat on the Cincinnati City Council, Cole was sworn in as his replacement on April 23, 2003. 27,644James R. Tarbell (C): 27,480John Cranley (D): 26,980R. Patrick DeWine (R): 26,573Christopher Smitherman (C, G): 25,483Sam Malone (R): 24,002David Crowley (D): 22,713