(Ken Blackwell) – When I was elected mayor of Cincinnati, I had to fight the entrenched political class head-on.
They said it could not be done because I was much too young. I proved them wrong.
Strong leadership beat back the insiders then, and strong leadership is exactly what is needed now.
Today, Cincinnati is in crisis.
A single mom named Holly was beaten unconscious downtown in an attack that shocked the nation. She suffered brain trauma, panic attacks, and said it herself: “I should be dead.”
That should have been a wake-up call for every leader in this city.
Instead, Mayor Aftab Pureval offered excuses.
And even worse, Council President Pro Tem Victoria Parks actually celebrated the assault, saying of the victims: “They begged for that beat down.”
That is not leadership. That is rot at the very top of City Hall.
This is the culture Pureval has created.
Violent criminals walk free.
Police are demoralized.
Families live in fear.
City leaders mock the victims.
Now enters Cory Bowman.
He is not a career politician. He is not another slick insider. He is JD Vance’s half-brother, raised on a farm in Preble County while his father scraped by on construction jobs.
He knows hardship because he lived it. He earned a degree in economics from Miami University, then a ministry degree in Florida where he met his wife, Jordan.
They came back to Cincinnati in 2020, started The River Church Cincinnati in the West End, and opened Kings Arms Coffee Roasters in College Hill. Cory is a pastor, a business owner, and a father of four.
Cory did not just pick an easy neighborhood. He rooted his family and his work in the West End, a largely low-income, majority-Black community just west of downtown.
He calls both his church and his coffee shop investments in that neighborhood because he loves its historic buildings and sense of community.
And he sees the struggle up close every day.
In Cory’s own words:
“Our church, where we meet, is right by the elementary school. You see single moms walking their kids to these schools every day and these kids – they need a shot at getting out of poverty. They need a shot at getting out of the problems that they’re in, and their parents want the same thing.”
That is the voice of someone who does not just talk about the poor, but actually serves them.
Though they share the same father, Cory and JD were raised apart. JD’s mother struggled with addiction and he was largely raised by his grandparents. (Mamaw and Papaw)
Cory grew up in Preble County with a father who bounced between jobs. They did not meet until Cory was thirteen. From that point on, they built their bond, shooting hoops, sharing the pain of broken homes, and finding strength in one another’s struggles.
Cory has even shared a memory that shows the kind of brotherhood they built. JD, then a high schooler, was driving him in a purple Honda Civic.
JD slipped in a Led Zeppelin CD and played “Ten Years Gone.” He looked at Cory and joked, “Don’t tell your mom and dad that I showed you this.”
To this day, Cory says that is still his favorite song. He has always looked up to JD as a role model. That is the kind of bond forged not in privilege, but in tough lives and honest brotherhood.
Now Cory is running for mayor because Cincinnati cannot afford one more day of Pureval’s excuses.
Bail policies that let violent criminals back out within days.
A city manager who bungles snow removal and ignores crumbling streets.
Police stretched thin and demoralized.
Council members mocking victims.
Enough!!
I have been in this fight before. I know what it takes to clean up City Hall and state government. Cory Bowman is cut from that same cloth.
He is not here to join the club. He is here to fight for families and clean house. He and Linda Matthews are force multipliers to be reckoned with.
President Trump has shown the nation what strong leadership looks like.
He responded to incompetent leadership in Washington by sending in the National Guard. And now, for the first time in their lives, DC residents say they feel safe to enjoy their parks and walk their streets.
That is what real leadership delivers.
Cory Bowman is ready to do the same for Cincinnati.
He is ready to make Cincinnati safe again and “Flip the ‘Nati.”
He is ready to make Cincinnati great again!
Ken Blackwell is an American author, politician, and conservative activist who served as mayor of Cincinnati from 1979 to 1980, was Ohio State Treasurer, Ohio Secretary of State, and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. This article was originally published on X.
