Wednesday, November 5, 2025 - Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval has been re-elected after a landslide victory over Cory Bowman, the half-brother of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, according to projections by the Associated Press and CNN.
Pureval, a Democrat, secured nearly 80% of the vote, earning
51,698 votes compared to Bowman’s 14,383 votes (22%), as reported by the
Cincinnati Enquirer. The race was called early after initial tallies showed
Pureval taking a commanding lead of more than 10,000 votes.
This marks Pureval’s second term as mayor, having first been
elected in 2021. Though the office is officially nonpartisan, Pureval’s
political alignment is Democratic.
Bowman, a Republican, pastor, and coffee shop owner, had the
backing of his half-brother, Vice President JD Vance, who endorsed him ahead of
the city’s primary election earlier this year. However, Vance did not publicly
support Bowman during the general election campaign and instead shifted focus
to other Republican races, including his endorsement of New Jersey
gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli.
Born in Ohio to a Punjabi father and a Tibetan refugee
mother, Aftab Pureval has often highlighted his immigrant roots as central to
his political journey. He developed an interest in public service early on and
won his first school election in eighth grade with the slogan, “Big, Brown and
Beautiful.”
After earning his law degree from the University of
Cincinnati, he worked in Washington, D.C., as an attorney before returning to
Ohio as a special assistant U.S. attorney with the Department of Justice.
In 2013, he joined Procter & Gamble as legal counsel for
Olay, one of its global skincare brands. He later entered politics, launching a
career that culminated in his historic election as Cincinnati’s first
Asian-American mayor.
Bowman, 36, is an evangelical pastor and founder of The
River Church in Cincinnati. He also owns Kings Arms Coffee, a local café
established in 2022.
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