YOUNGSTOWN — Councilman Julius Oliver said he’s 99 percent sure he’s going to run for mayor while Tracey Winbush, a Republican member of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, said she’s definitely going to seek the office.

Oliver, D-1st Ward, said he’s practically certain he’s going to run for mayor this year, but hasn’t decided whether to do so as a Democrat or an independent candidate. Oliver was elected in 2019 to his second four-year term. He’s been critical of the local Democratic party as well as Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, a Democrat who is running this year for a second four-year term.

“Youngstown needs a leader who has the attributes of those who’ve driven the city forward like (former mayors) Jay Williams and (John A.) McNally without the status quo of the old party line,” Oliver said. “A mayor shouldn’t be doing things for political reasons and to get re-elected. We need a true leader.”

The current administration under Brown, Oliver said, has failed to be aggressive enough to attract economic development to the city.

“People need to know the city’s got their back,” Oliver said. “Citizens need action and momentum. We need progress without that old-school politics.”

Feb. 3 is the filing deadline for those wanting to run in the Democratic or Republican primaries, which is May 4. Independents don’t have to file until May 3, the day before the primaries.

“I’m not sure if I’d run as a Democrat or independent,” Oliver said. “You’ve got to be a candidate of the people, and I’ll do that whether as a Democrat or independent.”

GOP PRIMARY

Winbush said she’s definitely going to run in the Republican primary for mayor.

“I’m trying to talk myself out of it every 15 minutes, and I’m not able to,” she said. “We have to live here and we need strong leadership.”

Winbush said she will get nominating petitions and resign from the board of elections near the end of this month.

Once Winbush’s candidacy is certified, she would have to resign from the board, which oversees elections, under state law.

Winbush was elected to the Youngstown Board of Education in 1999 and served a four-year term. She lost the 2003 election for city council president as a Republican.

She is president of the Ohio Black Republicans Association, a former Ohio Republican Party treasurer and state central committeewoman, former vice chairwoman of the county Republican Party and was President Donald Trump’s 2016 Mahoning County coordinator.

ANOTHER TERM

Brown already has said he will run for another term.

Asked about potential challengers, Brown said: “I’m going to continue to work hard for the citizens. We’ve come a long way. We’ve got a lot to do. Those who say they’re going to run, can run. But we’ve come a long way during my administration.”

Also, Louis Mosco, a former city Human Relations Commission minority business manager and fair employment investigator who later became a general manager for a car-leasing company in Columbus, said he’ll run as an independent.

Mosco said he will focus on bringing business to the city.

Mosco unsuccessfully ran for the 7th Ward council seat in the late 1970s, before going to work for the city in the early 1980s.

McNally hasn’t returned telephone calls from The Vindicator seeking comment about a possible mayoral run. He was elected in 2013, beating Brown in the Democratic primary by 2.16 percent, and then DeMaine Kitchen, who ran as an independent, in the general election by 11.08 percent.

Brown beat McNally in the 2017 primary by 5.68 percent.

Kitchen said he is running for re-election to council president. He won the Democratic primary four years ago for the post and easily beat a write-in candidate in the general election.

Mayor and council president are the only two Youngstown government positions on the ballot this year.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com