In less than one week, Cincinnati will know who its next mayor will be. One of the key issues in the race is violence in the city, particularly among young people.

One day after Mayor John Cranley gave his final state of the city address, WLWT asked the two mayoral candidates looking to replace him to give their own thoughts on the current state of Cincinnati.

"I agree with him. We have made a lot of progress in the last eight years and happily, I've been a part of that. For the first time in decades, the city's population has grown. We have created in the last eight years 29,000 additional jobs. We've done a lot to reduce poverty. We've done a lot to engage with neighborhoods," David Mann said. "I think we're on track so the issue and the challenge is continuing that and making sure that the benefits of what's happening are spread to as many of our citizens as possible."

"There's no doubt that we have seen incredible progress over the last 20 years, but unfortunately the pandemic, the challenges of gun violence, the economic downturn because of the pandemic and then obviously the several indictments on city council has unfortunately blemished some of that progress," Aftab Pureval said. "So while I think the state of the city is strong, I believe we need new leadership to turn the page on that ugly chapter."

Both candidates said addressing violence would be among their first priorities if elected.

"Number one, we support our police and we celebrate the fact that our police have evolved so positively in the last 20 years," Mann said. "We have to ask ourselves why young people ages 13, 14, 15 have illegal guns and why are they apparently lost souls without hope."

"No one of us has a magic wand to fix this issue overnight, but what I'm committed to doing is working with law enforcement, working with community stakeholders to get around the table and come up with the most innovative ideas that we can," Pureval said.

When asked about the keys to economic success following the pandemic, both candidates said growth is important.

"Creating a vibrant economy that increases jobs, supporting our neighborhoods and continuing some of the wonderful renaissance that's taken place in the last eight years," Mann said. "If I'm elected, I will concentrate very highly on making sure that we are as inclusive and equitable a community as possible."

"I firmly believe that cities that innovate, that are flexible, that are nimble will be the ones that grow and succeed over the next 10 years. The pandemic has completely changed the way that we work, the way that we live, the way that we play and Cincinnati is well-poised to take advantage of that future," Pureval said.

Mann said restoring trust in government is another one of his top priorities, while Pureval said affordable housing is another one of his.

CINCINNATI — Hopeful candidates were dotting their i's and crossing their t's Wednesday in a final push to appear on the ballot as Mayor John Cranley's potential successor before Thursday's deadline to qualify for the race.

As of Wednesday afternoon, six candidates appeared to have the necessary 500 valid signatures from registered city voters to make it on the ballot for the nonpartisan May 4 primary. The top two vote-getters in that contest will go on to the general election in November:

• Gavi Begtrup (Mount Lookout)
• David Mann (Clifton)
• Herman J. Napoli (West Price Hill)
• Raffel Prophett (Avondale)
• Aftab Pureval (Clifton)
• Cecil Thomas (Avondale)

Cranley, who cannot run for the office again due to term limits, was first elected mayor in 2013 and then re-elected in 2017.

The makeup of the group so far is somewhat unusual, said political scientist and University of Cincinnati professor David Niven.

"This race includes not only heavy hitters, but heavy hitters that are aligned with each other," Niven told WCPO, specifically referring to Mann, Pureval and Thomas, all of whom are well-known Democrats in Hamilton County politics currently or recently serving terms in different city-, county- or state-level offices.

This means their respective support bases typically overlap.

"This is going to be a very difficult challenge, when candidates are coming from the same wing of the party," Niven said. "It's hard to go into groups and say 'Endorse me; back me,' because those groups are going to think, 'We have other friends in this race.' It's very difficult."

Another prominent Democrat who had hinted at a run -- City Councilman Chris Seelbach -- said Wednesday he would not pursue the ticket.

Niven said he believes the strong showing by established Democrats is a direct result of Democratic city councilman and previous front-runner for mayor P.G. Sittenfeld's indictment late last year on federal public corruption charges. His case is still unfolding in U.S. District Court and, consequently, he is temporarily suspended from Council. Sittenfeld's attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the case; that decision is still pending.

"The race was almost over before it started and then had to restart in the last few weeks," Niven said.

The challenge now is earning voters' attention.

"This is just a tough race, and to get people to pay attention... It's not that people will reject these candidates; it's that they won't hear enough about them to give them great thought," Niven said.

At least one other Democrat with name-recognition, Kelli Prather, told WCPO Wednesday afternoon that she planned to file her signatures with the board of elections Thursday. Prather previously ran an unsuccessful bid for the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners in 2020 and for U.S. Senate in 2016.

City Councilman Wendell Young indicated in December that he was considering a mayoral run and even picked up paperwork to gather signatures. WCPO reached out to Young Wednesday afternoon but did not immediately hear back.

Prospective candidates have until 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, to submit their signed petitions.