CINCINNATI — The race for Ohio's 1st Congressional District is coming down to the wire as Nov. 8's election day looms closer.

Ohio's 1st Congressional District is made up of the eastern majority of Hamilton County as well as Warren County.

Republican incumbent Steve Chabot is going head-to-head with Democratic candidate Greg Landsman.

RELATED | Your Ohio Midterm Election Guide

The issues listed below are the topics prioritized by Chabot and Landsman on their respective campaign websites.

Here's a breakdown of each candidate, as well as the issues they've campaigned on:

Backgrounds

Steve Chabot

Steve Chabot is serving Ohio's 1st Congressional District in his 12th term. From Cincinnati, he previously served as a city councilman and Hamilton County commissioner for nearly five years before being elected to Congress in 1994.

Chabot serves on the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House.

Greg Landsman

Greg Landsman is a former public school teacher in his fifth year as a Cincinnati councilman. Landsman was born in Greater Cincinnati, and after earning a Master's Degree he went on to work for former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. As a councilman, Landsman established City Hall's first-ever Office of Ethics and Good Government and the Balanced Development Scorecard.

Issues

Steve Chabot

Revitalizing the Economy: Chabot wants federal agencies to look for alternatives to ease the burden on small businesses so they can grow and create jobs

Health Care: Chabot supports the repeal of Obamacare and replacing it with market-based reforms that will give families more options at a lower cost. The legislation he supports to replace Obamacare is also guaranteed to cover those with pre-existing conditions.

Energy: He believes America needs to increase domestic oil production, and Chabot is a strong proponent of the Keystone XL pipeline. He has also introduced legislation to stop price-gouging and anti-competitive behavior by OPEC nations by subjecting them to antitrust laws and prohibiting them from withholding supply with the intent of creating a shortage or raising prices.

Government Spending: Chabot is a supporter of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Protecting Social Security: Chabot is a longtime supporter of the Social Security Preservation Act, which says that money paid into Social Security can only be used for Social Security and no other government programs.

Veterans: He vows to be a strong supporter of legislation and funding efforts to ensure veterans have access to medical care, education and financial services.

School Security: Chabot help pass legislation that reauthorized the COPS Secure Our Schools grant program for 10 years. The legislation more than doubles the funding available for important security measures, including metal detectors, improvements in identifying and treating mental health issues, the installation of improved communications systems and security training for school employees and students.

Cybersecurity: As part of the House Small Business Committee, Chabot has focused on steps small businesses can take to prevent and combat cyberattacks. Alongside Ranking Member Nydia Velasquez, Chabot introduced bipartisan legislation to help give small businesses the tools and resources they need to defend themselves against cyberattacks, both foreign and domestic.

Greg Landsman

Lowering Costs for Families: Landsman has called for the suspension of the state and federal gas taxes, as well as for lowering the costs of prescription drugs. He also promises to hold big corporations accountable for price gouging.

Jobs & the Economy: He supports the bipartisan COMPETES Act that works to bring the supply chain back home. Landsman also supports strengthening worker protections, including making it harder for employers to bust unions before they have a chance to organize and update labor laws. He also supports raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour and to expand high-quality and affordable childcare.

Reproductive Health & Rights: Landsman believes that it's not the place of the government to dictate the decisions that Americans make about their own bodies. He opposes any effort to undermine privacy between women and their doctors, and he supports the codification of Roe v. Wade. Landsman also wants to address the racial discrepancies in maternal mortality.

Education: Landsman promises to fight for more equitable access to education. He also plans to vote to lessen the burden of college on students and their parents.

Infrastructure: Landsman supports the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and plans continued investment in projects to improve crumbling roads and bridges as well as expanding digital infrastructure to ensure broadband internet for everyone.

Public Safety: Landsman supports improving public safety by building trust between communities and public safety officers and police.

Gun Safety: Landsman has been named a Gun Sense candidate by Moms Demand Action, and he supports requiring universal background checks on all gun sales. He also supports banning the sale of assault weapons.

Voting Rights: Landsman supports the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He also supports expanding voter registration and access, strengthening ethics requirements, outlawing voter purges, increasing election security and establishing independent redistricting nationwide.

Health Care: He promises to push for lower healthcare premiums and work to eliminate surprise billing. Landsman also supports bipartisan legislation that holds Big Pharma accountable and allowing Medicaid to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.

Veterans: Landsman promises to fight to make sure veterans suffering from toxic exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan get the support and medical attention they deserve. He also said it's "inexcusable" that any veteran lacks access to health care for physical and mental health.

Environment: Landsman is endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters. He promises to fight to protect access to clean air and water, and he'll hold polluters accountable for damages that disproportionately impact marginalized communities.

Equality: If elected to Congress, Landsman will support the Equality Act to ensure that no one can be discriminated against due to sexual orientation or gender. He also wants to codify marriage equality into federal law.

Foreign Policy: As a member of Congress, Landsman will advocate for Israel's right to self-determination and work to build bridges between the U.S., Israel and other regions to achieve sustainable peace in the region. He also supports the Abraham Accords effort started by former President Trump and continued by President Biden. Lastly, Landsman supports delivering military and humanitarian aid to those in Ukraine.

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INDIANA — ABC News projects Todd Young has won reelection.

Young defeated Democratic challenger Thomas McDermott Jr., the longest-serving mayor in the history of Hammond, Ind., to serve his second term in the U.S. Senate. With 68% of precincts reporting, Young has 59% of the vote.

The Republican incumbent previously served as a representative for Indiana's 9th congressional district before he was elected to the Senate in 2018. He succeeded Dan Coats.

Young was considered a clear front-runner throughout the race, mostly ignoring McDermott's campaign. Like many of his incumbent colleagues, Young had a large fundraising advantage over McDermott. He spent most of his campaign talking about inflation and rising gas prices.

His campaign raised about $14.9 million in contributions through Oct. 19, according to Federal Election Commission filings, while McDermott’s campaign had collected $1.27 million.

He did not get an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. He voted to acquit Trump in his Senate impeachment trials, though he did vote to uphold President Joe Biden's election win.

Young is on the Senate committees on finance; foreign relations; commerce, science and transportation; and small business and entrepreneurship. He was in the Marine Corps before attending law school and starting his political career.

There are several additional elections for state legislators, mayors and council members in Indiana. Hoosiers in the Tri-State are also electing Indiana's representative for the 6th congressional district. Greg Pence, the older brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, has represented the district since 2018.

FIND THE LATEST MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS FROM OHIO, KENTUCKY AND INDIANA HERE.

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati leaders announced the city's proposed budget for the next two years Friday morning, with a focus on public safety spending.

This comes after Cincinnati's police and fire chiefs told city council in the last few months that the department is facing staffing shortages. CPD Chief Theresa Theetgedescribed her department's situation as "dire."

The proposed budget totals $1.59 billion and includes funding for three new police recruit classes totaling 160 possible positions and four new fire recruit classes, totaling 200 possible positions.

Last year, each department only had two recruitment classes each.

"There has been years in which we're trying to catch up from lost recruitment classes in both police and fire. Couple that with a lack of interest in the industry all together, we are essentially like drinking from a fire hose," said Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long.

The proposed budget lays out three recruit classes — two that will graduate in 2024 and one that graduates in 2025. Each of those classes are intended to have roughly 50 recruits each. The budget allocated for each recruit class is roughly $2 million, with the full two-year total for all three classes running $6,259,940.

The fire department's budget is a little more complicated: It highlights the four budgeted recruit classes, two set to graduate in 2024 and two in 2025. Those are each going to run roughly $1.4 million. But the bigger financial impact comes from overtime hours. For each of those recruit classes, the city has also allocated each recruitment class $550,000 in just overtime hours.

In total, that would mean the fire department's recruitment classes are budgeted to cost around $3,857,460 in 2024 and $4,087,350 in 2025.

City leaders said the goal is to get back up to the full number of officers CPD and the fire department are budgeted to have and keep up with retirements and other forms of employee attrition.

"I think they're taking a half step when they need to take four or five," Fraternal Order of Police President Dan Hils said.

He said more police recruit classes are good but he thinks bigger pay increases are key to attracting more candidates. In the new budget proposal, the city is aiming to address that. The new budget proposes increasing operating funds for CPD by $2,428,410 "due to wage and benefits increases and increases in expert services." However, that increase, the budget says, is offset by the transfer of full-time officers to other bureaus.

The proposed budget also allocates $615,000 to expand the Alternate Response to Crisis unit (ARC), which was a pilot program this year.

"For 3,000 hours mental health professionals, not police, responded to calls," Long said.

This discussion comes as the city faces a deficit.

"Our expenses frankly are growing more quickly than our revenues," said Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval. "We are living in a very difficult and frankly uncertain time. The ground is moving under our feet and so what this budget tries to do is act responsibly in anticipation of that dire fiscal situation that we're walking into next year."

City leaders said with fewer people commuting into the city to work after the COVID-19 pandemic, the city is collecting less income tax. They plan to use American Rescue Plan Act dollars to make up for it in Fiscal Year 2024, which starts in July.

By Fiscal Year 2025, though, the city could be facing a nearly $9.5 million operating budget deficit. Plus, city leaders say there's about $400 million in deferred maintenance.

"Which is why this council and I have been so aggressive at looking for new streams of revenue to make us. less reliant on our earnings tax revenue," Pureval said.

The city increased the property tax rate for 2024, plus Pureval said the possible sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern could be a potential revenue stream.

There will be a public comment meeting about the proposed budget at City Hall on June 5 and 5:30 pm.

CINCINNATI — The City of Cincinnati is turning a new page in its community engagement efforts. Officials are making a more pointed, intensive effort to seek feedback and inform residents about the changes happening in their neighborhoods.

The effort began seven years ago with an ordinance advocated for by then-city council member Kevin Flynn mandating the city improve its efforts to gather input and drive civic engagement among residents. A handful of concerned citizens kept advocating for it until the ordinance was passed back in August.

“I’m thankful to city council for passing it because we need community engagement in every facet of city government,” councilwoman Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney said.

Residents frequently criticize city officials for failing to thoroughly inform them of the changes being made in their neighborhoods, particularly when it comes to development. They also decry city government and developers for virtually excluding residents from decision-making processes. Improving the city’s community engagement could prevent gentrification and alienating locals from the transformations happening in their own backyards.

In response to the city’s outreach, people are making a number of suggestions like improving communication through the city website. They also suggest city officials meet residents where they are at, such as at public events, grocery stores and on public transportation. Other ideas include putting up more signage that alerts residents of neighborhood changes and having more flexible times for public engagement meetings.

“I thought the conversation was really productive,” said Janiah Miller, an Over-The-Rhine resident.

Miller was at one of those engagement meetings last night. She called for young people of color to be hired in city and planning jobs to make community engagement more well-rounded and pro-active.

"[A] lot of these decisions are made by people that don’t look like us and so that also creates apathy," Miller said.

Ashley Cook of the West End also suggested that Cincinnati take inspiration from other cities that have had even more success in their community engagement and development.

“Someone brought up looking at other cities and I think it’s very important, Cook said. “I know Cincinnati is very unique, and I know we have the Tri-state, but I also travel and I also see some great things going on with other cities, and I think we can learn from those as well.”

Future engagement meetings for this will be held in Westwood and over Zoom later this month. More information about the city’s community engagement initiative here.

Monique John covers gentrification for WCPO 9. She is part of our Report For America donor-supported journalism program. Read more about RFA here.

If there are stories about gentrification in the Greater Cincinnati area that you think we should cover, let us know. Send us your tips at moveupcincinnati@wcpo.com.

CINCINNATI —

A memo from Cincinnati City Manager Paula Boggs Meuthing contains details of fraudulent activity that no taxpayer wants to see.

"This is really an attack on the taxpayers of Cincinnati," cybersecurity expert Dave Hatter said.

Issued Wednesday, the memo said a $137,000 payment that was supposed to go to a Dept. of Transportation and Engineering contractor went to a scammer instead.

It happened when someone impersonating the contractor's office manager sent a message asking city workers to update the company's electronic fund transfer information. As a result, a $137,000 payment went to the con artist and not the contractor.

"This kind of thing is a huge problem," Hatter said.

WLWT investigator Todd Dykes shared the memo with Hatter, who works for a firm called Intrust IT.

Hatter also oversees public money as the mayor of Fort Wright in Kenton County.

While he doesn't know for sure what happened, Hatter has a hunch.

"What Cincinnati put out — there's not enough information there to say for sure this is what's happened, but. ... I can almost guarantee you they probably got an email from the vendor requesting a payment. The vendor's accounts had been broken into. There was an imposter impersonating the vendor," Hatter said.

That appears to be how the scam unfolded based on the city manager's memo, although the manager's office declined to talk about it.

The memo said the city does about 24,000 electronic fund transfers a year, making what happened in this case "extremely rare."

"With 24,000 a year, and also people don't realize this as a thing, I could see how Cincinnati would easily not catch this," Hatter said. "In my opinion, based on what I know so far ... they are just the unfortunate dupes that sent money to the wrong place because they wouldn't know otherwise, you know."

It's not clear if the legitimate contractor will be made whole and receive the $137,000. All the city manager's memo said is police are now involved and the city is trying to recover the money.

CINCINNATI — As it stands, the section of Central Parkway between Findlay Market and the bend just south of 12th Street is pretty drab. Commuters use it mainly as a major artery for cars passing through the city. But a group of concerned residents and business owners think it can be so much more than that. That’s why they have formed a task force to renovate the area, transforming the parkway into a grand boulevard that connects the city’s landmarks.

Organizers from the task force see it in part as a way to follow through on the city’s original vision for the parkway: a sprawling street with features like gardens and fountains that rivaled the most beautiful European cities.

“It was meant to be a grand street, connecting from the river through Downtown and Over-the-Rhine and up to the universities and to the neighborhoods along the Mill Creek,” according to Chris Manning of Human Nature. Human Nature is on the task force’s design arm for the project.

Ever since the canal that was once here was filled up, the area’s scenic beauty faded over time.

The task force feels revamping this section of the parkway can enrich the architectural character of the city.

Michael Williams, the owner of Wooden Nickel Antiques, has run his store on the parkway for over 40 years, and is one of the originators of the renovation project.

“It's going to be beautiful. It needs to be beautiful, or people won't be here,” Williams said. “It needs to be a tourist attraction. People will want to come here, but also it is about development. It will tie in Downtown to Findlay Market.”

Organizers say they want to create a more cohesive, attractive space that connects the West End with Over-the-Rhine while also making the street safer for pedestrians. They also want to make the parkway more practical for everyday use. Both the West End and Over-the-Rhine Community Councils have endorsed the project. The city also pledged $1 million to advance the project.

However, some prominent community figures object to this, arguing there are other issues to tend to that are more deserving of this money.

“I feel like that million dollars that they're putting into beautifying the street could have gone to affordable housing development,” said Mary B. Rivers, the executive director of Over-the-Rhine Community Housing.

“I thought it was unnecessary and sort of tone deaf in terms of the greater needs in the community of Over-the-Rhine in the city of Cincinnati that we would spend $18 million of our public dollars for a streetscape project of a couple of blocks.”

Manning acknowledges those other needs but stresses this is a big opportunity.

“We don't see other needs as being opponents or competition for what we're trying to do. We have a lot of respect for everybody who's working to make the community better.”

Next steps for the task force include refining designs, cost estimates and holding more community engagement. It's projected the renovations could cost around $20 million dollars.

Monique John covers gentrification for WCPO 9. She is part of our Report For America donor-supported journalism program. Read more about RFA here.

If there are stories about gentrification in the Greater Cincinnati area that you think we should cover, let us know. Send us your tips at moveupcincinnati@wcpo.com.

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.

CINCINNATI — The race to take over outgoing Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes' seat has begun.

Ohio State Rep. Brigid Kelly, D-Cincinnati, announced her bid for the county office Tuesday morning in a Facebook post.

Rhodes, who is wrapping up his eighth term in the office, announced last week he would not seek re-election.

Kelly has served in the Ohio House of Representatives since 2017 representing the 31st district, which includes more than 10 Cincinnati neighborhoods as well as Amberley Village, Norwood, Silverton, St. Bernard and Columbia Township. Prior to serving in public office, she worked for a local food workers union.

NORWOOD, Ohio — Off-year elections typically have low voter turnout, and primary elections -- like Tuesday's Ohio primary -- often can have even lower numbers. But a high-profile mayoral race and a controversial ballot measure in Cincinnati might combine to buck that trend.

For Cincinnati voter Carolyn Jones, ballot Issue 3 and the Cincinnati mayoral primary were enough to motivate her to the polls. Six candidates are vying for two spots on November's general mayoral ballot, and Issue 3 would amend the city's charter to require at least $50 million in locally sourced funding be allocated to affordable housing projects.

Both races come after a tumultuous year marked with scandal at City Hall.

"That was a very big one for me," Jones told WCPO. "The mayor, most definitely. I've seen all these guys in action. I like a little bit about each one of them, but you need to think about who will serve your interest."

ISSUE 3: Pros and cons of affordable housing charter amendment
MAYOR'S RACE: Meet the 6 candidates for Cincinnati's top job

It was the same for Nicole Baah, who said, "The mayoral race was really interesting...knowing the mayor has such a big impact on that and really trying to participate on that."

According to Hamilton County Board of Elections director Sherry Poland, early voting turnout was up, both in person and by mail, compared to the last Cincinnati mayoral primary race in 2017. As of Sunday night, 3,185 people voted in person across the county, and in the city of Cincinnati, 5,072 people had returned absentee ballots.

"I think we're going to be higher than the last one in 2017," Poland said. "The highest turnout ever in a Cincinnati primary election was 20%, and there's a chance we could hit that."

The record-holding year was the 2005 mayoral primary, when about 44,000 people voted. In 2017, about 24,000 voters cast ballots and in the cycle before that, 2013, half that many turned out.

On Monday, Poland said it was still too early to tell how turnout this year will compare to years past.

"It's really premature because a majority of the voters in Hamilton County do choose to vote on Election Day. So I think that's where we'll see our biggest numbers come," she said.

For Jones, even an off-year, local primary is worth the effort it takes to cast her ballot.

"The idea that if you want to be part of what's going on and part of our government, we have to start with the basics, and these are the basics," she said.

Day-of voting opens for Ohio's primary at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, and polls will remain open until 7:30 p.m.

CINCINNATI — Two anti-corruption proposals passed handily Tuesday on Cincinnati's primary ballot, each scoring approval by a margin of more than three-to-one.

Brought before voters after a string of corruption scandals at City Hall, both ballot measures -- Issues 1 and 2 -- were procedural and sought to change the ways City Council can deal with a member who has come under indictment, along with installing other ethics requirements of its members.

IN-DEPTH: What exactly are Issue 1 and Issue 2 about?

With all precincts reporting, the unofficial count showed 76.8% of voters approved Issue 1, while 23.3% opposed it. The measure will mean, once indicted, a member can no longer change their pre-designated replacement, should they be suspended. It also allows the city's attorney to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the case on the city's behalf.

Issue 2 took a slightly wider margin at the polls, with 77.4% for and 22.6% against. It also takes a slightly sharper tack by allowing members of City Council to suspend a member brought under indictment, which currently requires a lengthy court process.

The measure also requires council members to undergo ethics training and reiterates Issue 1's provision that a member under indictment cannot change their successor if they are suspended.

Between February 2020 and last month, four sitting members of City Council came under indictment in either county or federal court. Federal agents arrested former member Tamaya Dennard and now-suspended members Jeff Pastor and P.G. Sittenfeld over the course of last year, accusing them of soliciting or taking bribes in exchange for votes or favor on development deals.

A grand jury indicted Councilman Wendell Young last month on felony charges, accusing him of tampering with evidence related to the "Gang of Five" texting scandal of 2018.

Previous reporting by WCPO 9 News reporter Mariel Carbone contributed to this story.