See the big changes Mayor Cranley's making

Politics Extra is a weekly column looking inside local politics

Nearly three years ago, Jay Kincaid played a key role in putting an underdog mayoral candidate in Cincinnati City Hall.

It'll now be Kincaid's job to help keep John Cranley there through 2021.

Kincaid will resign as Cranley's chief of staff next Friday and return to being the mayor's campaign manager starting Aug. 1, Politics Extra has learned.

"It's not easy to leave City Hall at a time when Mayor Cranley and his office are doing really good work on a large scale that is helping the most disadvantaged Cincinnatians," Kincaid said. "But ultimately, I want to see that work continued another four years, and the best way for me to help him do that right now is to go back to the campaign and make sure he is re-elected in 2017."

Bobbi Dillon will be promoted to Cranley's chief of staff from deputy chief of staff, increasing her annual salary to $90,000.

Holly Stutz Smith also has been hired as Cranley's new spokeswoman and deputy chief of staff. She will be paid $80,000. Smith has been communications manager for the city's economic development office. She will handle Cranley's media relations, a role previously performed by former Enquirer and CityBeat reporter Kevin Osborne before he left in April for another job.

Kincaid, 38, spent nearly a decade as a Democratic strategist working on campaigns before he joined Cranley at City Hall in December 2013. He's had success working on several of Cranley's campaigns. Kincaid worked on Cranley's successful 2005 City Council campaign. Two years later, he ran Cranley's campaign and helped him get re-elected.

Kincaid helped Cranley overcome a 22-point deficit in a Cincinnati Business Committee poll to decisively defeat Roxanne Qualls in the 2013 mayoral race. Kincaid also was Cranley's finance director for his 2006 Congressional race, which he narrowly lost to Republican incumbent Steve Chabot.

Kincaid grew up in Marion, Ohio, and was the first person in his family to go to college. Cranley became Kincaid's mentor while he was in law school at the University of Cincinnati. Cranley also officiated Kincaid's wedding in 2012.

"He's a true friend," Kincaid said. "His values of standing up for the most disadvantaged among us match with my values – and that's an easy person to get behind. I will do all I can to ensure he has four more years."

The 2017 mayoral race is expected to be highly competitive, especially if Democratic Councilwoman Yvette Simpson jumps into the race. Simpson and urban-progressive Democrats want Cranley out of City Hall – having been at odds with him since he took a hard-line stance against the streetcar in the last campaign.

Cranley is an establishment Democrat who has focused on improving the city's long-term fiscal health; hiring cops and firefighters to make streets safer; and upgrading basic government services such as road paving and garbage collection. Progressives do not see Cranley as backing their agenda of promoting a trendy urban-core lifestyle. Cranley will stay the course with what put him in office, Kincaid said.

"John clearly told people where he stood on the issues, and that's what we intend to do this time," Kincaid said. "He cares about delivering for neighborhoods, about making the city safer, about creating jobs for the long-term unemployed. We have no intention of hiring anyone to dig up dirt on any of our potential opponents."

"Like" on social media

City Councilman Chris Seelbach is a changed man on social media, taking a much nicer tack in his Facebook and Twitter posts recently. The Democrat said there wasn't a turning-point moment nor did he receive specific advice that prompted the change.

Seelbach had been advised to tone it down, and he has ever since The Enquirer reported in April he had sent an email to local Democratic leaders accusing Sheriff Jim Neil of having Donald Trump campaign signs in his front yard. (It turned out not to be true.)

"Too many in politics have taken divisive rhetoric too far and it's gotten ugly all across the nation and in the city," Seelbach said. "The ability to disagree without being disagreeable was a tenet former Vice Mayor David Crowley instilled more than a decade ago. I am constantly challenging myself – on social media and otherwise – to adhere to that belief and hope others do as well."

For the past few years on social media, Seelbach had fueled a fervent group of urban progressives who regularly criticize Cranley. But since taking a softer approach and spending less time commenting on social media, Seelbach said it's allowed him to better focus on City Hall legislation and his family and friends.

"Chris was elected not because of his ability to spread nastiness on Twitter or Facebook, but because he took very strong and courageous stances on human rights," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. "It's very wise for him to make this change. It's in everybody's best interest – the party's, his and this campaign season."

Bad political optics?

Republican City Councilwoman Amy Murray posted a photo on social media Monday of her and Ohio Democratic Party boss David Pepper from the GOP convention in Cleveland.

Knowing Murray – who has spent most of her career in business and has a reputation for reaching across the aisle at City Hall – she meant nothing by it. After all, she's known Pepper for years, having worked at Procter & Gamble when his father, John Pepper, was the top executive.

But ...

Murray is a potential lieutenant governor candidate in 2018, and part of her reason for going to Cleveland was to further build relationships with Ohio's GOP power brokers. Among them: attorney general and potential 2018 gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine, who could consider Murray as his running mate. But remember, David Pepper and DeWine faced each other in the nasty 2014 race for attorney general, and their relationship has been strained ever since.

Murray later deleted the social media post. She declined comment to Politics Extra.

Quack, quack

Hamilton County Clerk of Courts candidate Aftab Pureval caught Politics Extra's attention during the Madeira Independence Day parade when the Democrat walked the route telling people his name sounds like "Aflac," the insurance company known for its duck mascot.

Getting voters to remember his name is a big challenge for the political rookie – especially considering Pureval is facing big-name incumbent Tracy Winkler.

"I know that Aftab is a unique name," said Pureval, a Procter & Gamble attorney. "I'll speak to groups and months later, someone will come up and say, 'I don't remember everything you said, but I do know you're the Aflac guy.' I'm running on serious issues about how to reform our courts, but if thinking of that duck helps people remember my name, then people can quack 'Aftab' at me all over Hamilton County."

Follow Enquirer local politics reporter Jason Williams on Twitter @jwilliamscincy. Send tips, questions and comments to jwilliams@enquirer.com.