GOP Names Council Slate

Two former Cincinnati City Council members are among a slate of seven candidates who received endorsements tonight from the Hamilton County Republican Party to run in this fall’s council elections.

Charlie Winburn and Sam Malone both were endorsed by the local GOP.

Facing term limits, Winburn left city council in February 2001 after seven years. The Republican Party helped him get an appointment to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. He was the GOP’s mayoral candidate in 2005 but finished a distant third in the primary, capturing 21 percent of the vote. Party insiders say Winburn would return to council in preparation to make another run for mayor in 2009.

Malone won his first council term in November 2003. Two years later he barely missed re-election, finishing 10th in the balloting for nine council seats, when he was facing a misdemeanor domestic violence charge for allegedly beating his 14-year-old son with a belt. Malone was later acquitted of the charge.

Also getting the GOP’s endorsement were incumbent council members Chris Monzel and Leslie Ghiz.

Rounding out the slate are John Eby, a Westwood neighborhood activist who ran unsuccessfully for council in 2005; Patrick Fischer, president of the Cincinnati Bar Association; and Andre Harper, a military veteran who serves on the staff of U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio).

In recent years the local GOP has made a concerted effort to field more African-American candidates. This year’s council slate includes three black men: Winburn, Malone and Harper.

— Kevin Osborne

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