JD Vance’s Pastor Brother, Cory Bowman, Runs Longshot Race For Cincinnati Mayor – After Never Previously Voting In A Local Election

Despite a short mayoral campaign, Cory Bowman, Vice President JD Vance‘s half-brother, found his way to the ballot of the general elections in Cincinnati this fall.

Bowman came in second in Cincinnati’s mayoral primary, winning 12.91% of the vote, with a large deficit to make up to the incumbent Mayor Aftab Pureval, who earned 82.53% of the vote.

His decision to run came on the heels of watching his brother get sworn into office in January.

“I flew back home from watching the inauguration,” Bowman told Politico. “I was just really inspired, because I look up to my brother not just as a political model but as a role model.”

Using Bowman’s built-in base from his church and his coffee shop patrons, he easily reached the 500 signatures to get on the ballot. While choosing to run for mayor, he has never voted in a Cincinnati election.

“I think, like many people, you’re kind of ignorant to the fact that these local elections actually happen in the years that they do,” Bowman told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “That’s not me discrediting how important these elections are, but just getting over this mega election of the presidents and senators and representatives, and you’re thinking it’s only every four years or every two years, but then you start realizing, no, these city elections happen the year right after.”

His previous political posts came at the Republican National Convention, where he was just a familial supporter of Vance’s campaign.

Vance has avoided Bowman’s campaign, declining to comment on the race. Bowman commented when asked about Vance coming out to support him, “I don’t necessarily speak for him,” he said. “He speaks pretty well for himself. He’s my older brother that I look up to. There’s no telling what could happen over the course of the year. Right now, I tell people that my focus is on the city of Cincinnati.”

While Bowman is running as a Republican, he is running a campaign focused on local issues.

“I think a lot of times, you can’t really put a right or left stamp on the issues of the city. You got to put it on, ‘Practically, this is what we’re standing up for,’” Bowman said.