Tiara Ross is benefitting from more than $155,000 in support from incumbent city council members in what is shaping up to be one of the most historically expensive and competitive Columbus City Council races in modern history.
Ross, her opponent Jesse Vogel and Councilmembers Rob Dorans, Emmanuel Remy, Christopher Wyche and Shannon Hardin have spent nearly $1 million on this race since before the primary began. Ross only raised $182,000 of her funds while the incumbent councilmembers put forward about 65% of her spending, or over $330,000 in in-kind contributions since the primary started.
Franklin County Democratic Party Chair Michael Sexton told WOSU this might be the most expensive race in city history, even with 11 more days to go.
Vogel has raised a majority of his funds from Columbus and central Ohio residents totaling $479,000 since he launched his campaign in late 2024. He has nearly $100,000 left in the bank to spend before election day.
Ross' strategy and early donations from out-of-state residents to Vogel were early concerns for both campaigns. Ross' recent report showed she and her allies doubled-down on that strategy, while Vogel held several in-person fundraising events to increase his level of financial support from Columbus residents.
Vogel has often criticized Ross for her support from all nine current Columbus City Councilmembers, Mayor Andrew Ginther, City Attorney Zach Klein and the Franklin County Democratic Party.
Those contributions from incumbents largely paid for Ross' campaign, consulting and digital advertisements.
Vaughn didn't rule out airing broadcast TV ads in the final days before the election for Ross. McKissick-Hawley said Vogel's campaign has no plans to do so.
Both are already airing digital ads on streaming services and the internet.
Ross' campaign manager, Millie Vaughn, also organizes the uncontested campaigns for Remy, Dorans and Wyche. She said Ross' campaign speaks to the belief of local leaders in her ability to win this race.
"(Ross) grew up in Columbus right here and understands the challenges that residents face every day," Vaughn said.
Vaughn criticized Vogel for growing up in Bexley, the affluent Columbus suburb.
"(Vogel) is relying heavily on his large network of wealthy donors to fund his campaign from, you know, our region and across the U.S," Vaughn said. "He's got a lot of out-of-state donors so far this campaign."
Vogel's campaign manager, Eden McKissick-Hawley, pointed out Vogel has lived and worked in Columbus and in District 7's boundaries for several years before the primary. Vogel works as a public interest attorney with Community Refugee and Immigration Services.
McKissick-Hawley said it was interesting Ross' campaign criticized Vogel in this way when Ross herself moved back into Columbus just days before the deadline to run. Her campaign faced a challenge from a local political blog over her residency.
Ross did grow up in Columbus.
McKissick-Hawley said Vogel worked hard to address concerns about out of state donors to his campaign. Most of his more than 700 unique donors in the last two campaign finance reports before the primary were from Columbus and central Ohio, unlike before the primary.
Ross, by contrast, had under 200 unique donors in this last report.
"Jesse doubled down on the work that he did in Columbus doing multiple grassroots events every single night in homes all across the city," McKissick-Hawley said. "And then we saw Jesse's opponent double down on accepting money from entrenched politicians who continue to do things the same way in this city."
Vaughn said it is hard to say whether this is the most expensive race in city history, but said inflation has been a factor in costly campaigning. She also cautioned comparisons since Columbus is running one of the first elections for its new city council district system.
"That would be like comparing oranges to apples. But like many things in Trump's America right now, campaigns are expensive and you see that across the country," Vaughn said.
McKissick-Hawley said Vogel's campaign research found it is the most expensive race in city history.
"I actually don't think that's in question," McKissick-Hawley said. "But really people are talking about 'When is the last time we've ever seen any kind of a political shakeup like this in Columbus history?'"
McKissick-Hawley said the biggest comparison anyone could find were the years Columbus changed from Republican to Democratic control decades ago.
