YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown Councilman Julius Oliver, a frequent critic of Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, and businessman Ryan Kelly will challenge the incumbent in the Democratic primary.

Oliver, D-1st Ward; Brown, elected mayor in 2017; and Kelly, who owns Belleria Pizza and Italian Restaurant in Columbiana; filed as Democrats for the seat by Wednesday’s deadline.

The Mahoning County Board of Elections needs to certify the candidacy of all who filed by the deadline in order for them to appear on the May 4 ballot.

Also, Tracey Winbush, a board of elections member, was the only Republican to file for the mayoral seat.

Winbush will resign from the elections board once her candidacy is certified, which is required under state law. If she’s certified, she’ll automatically move to the November general election as the GOP candidate as there won’t be a primary election for that political party.

May 3 is the deadline to file as an independent. That’s a day before the Democratic primary.

Oliver, who was elected in 2019 to his second four-year term, was considering an independent bid as well, but decided to run in the Democratic primary after most people he spoke to urged him to do that.

“Even with that, I remain an individual with independent thinking and I am not held down by the views of any particular party, but rather as a citizen who has grown up and achieved things through hard work in the city of Youngstown,” Oliver said. “I understand things and see things from the middle looking all around.”

Oliver, who owns Kingly Hand Wash and Wax, said: “I’m not interested in winning an election. I’m interested in change and refocusing priorities. The political games only benefit the politicians and politics. But what about the people? That’s why you won’t catch me participating in games. My campaign will be centered around action.”

Kelly said he’s been involved in several political campaigns and decided the time is right to be a candidate.

“The city is at a crossroads,” he said. “We’ve got to bring jobs and get people to be as proud of being from Youngstown as I am.”

Kelly said he has concerns about Brown’s leadership.

“He’s a good guy, but you have to consider fresh ideas,” Kelly said. “It’s a time Youngstown has never faced before with the pandemic. We can’t fall into doing the same thing over and over again.”

Kelly is a member of the city health board and used to own Kelly’s Bar and Grille on Mahoning Avenue, selling it in 2018, and had operated Belleria restaurants in Warren, Girard and Hubbard.

Brown said: “Everybody has an opportunity to file. But Youngstown is at a better point than it’s been in the past four years. We’re moving forward. I’m looking to continue partnerships at the state and federal levels and putting Youngstown residents first.”

Brown said during his three-plus years as mayor, “we’re turning the ship around and we’re heading in the right direction. But we’ve got a lot more to do.”

Brown is a former council president, 3rd Ward councilman and city school board member.

Wednesday was also the filing deadline for Youngstown council president, council seats in Struthers and for four Poland Village Council positions.

Youngstown Council President DeMaine Kitchen was the only candidate to file and did so as a Democrat. He was elected four years ago.

Four candidates filed for three Struthers at-large council seats. The three incumbents filed: James Baluck, Dallas Bigley and Megan Pingley. Also, Tom Lallo turned in petitions to run at-large.

Poland council candidates typically file as independents. The lone exception was Sam Moffie, who filed as a Republican and was elected that way four years ago.