Jasmin Santana has her Cleveland City Council seat all but secured, but she's campaigning like she doesn't.
"Yo soy la concejal ya en el distrito 14," she introduced herself to a man blowing leaves outside his Brooklyn Centre home on a recent Saturday afternoon. "Jasmin Santana."
She handed him an election information packet, with materials in English and Spanish, including polling locations and "know your rights" cards for immigrants amid fears of ICE raids and detainments. Nearly half of Santana's current ward is Latino. The man smiled and wished her luck.
"This is fun!" she said with a smile as she moved onto the next house.
Contested or not, Santana said every vote matters in her West Side ward, which includes Clark Fulton, Brooklyn Center and the Stockyards.
"Because we don't have a competitive race this year, I don't anticipate many residents going out to vote, but we're trying to encourage them to get out to vote," she said.
Cleveland’s voter turnout consistently lags national and state averages. Most recently, fewer than 9,000 people – about 7% of registered voters – cast ballots in September’s primary election.
Santana said voting isn’t just about who takes public office. It’s about empowering residents, and getting more resources and attention for underserved communities.
"Someone that gets out to vote, they're engaged, you know, they understand the process, and you basically build power with your vote, right?" she said. "So now you're getting attention from the mayor. Now you're getting attention from other elected officials."
And with this year’s redistricting process, which changed ward boundaries across Cleveland, Santana said it’s particularly important to be out in the neighborhoods to introduce herself to new constituents, like 81-year-old Charles Rogers.
"I remember when Mayor Jackson was first running years ago: he came down the street and talked to us and everything," said Rogers, who has lived in his Brooklyn Centre home since the 1970s. "I think it's a good thing. Introduce yourself to them, you know, so you can get a feel for everything."
Across town in Slavic Village, Kevin Bishop hung similar election information packets and vote-by-mail applications on residents’ doorknobs. Bishop is also running unopposed in this election, but he too is picking up new neighborhoods like this one from redistricting.
"Well, we don't want anybody to get disillusioned even more with the election process," he said. "We want to keep them engaged. The more engagement the better. So we're just trying to get folks jump started and take some interest in the elections."
At the center of this once-a-decade mapmaking process was Council President Blaine Griffin.
He’s also running unopposed. He’ll maintain some of his East Side neighborhoods like Little Italy, Buckeye-Shaker and Woodland Hills but he’s picking up new neighborhoods like Hough. That’s because the city lost population, which meant two fewer wards and more geographic areas for council members to cover.
"I feel it's important that you still that the people still deserve a campaign," Griffin said. "You still have to go out there and let people know why they should vote for you and don't take them for granted."
It’s not just his campaign he’s focused on. As council president, he controls a political action committee called the Council Leadership Fund, which has spent more than $100,000 this year backing his political allies on council. In two races where redistricting forced council members inside the same boundary, that meant backing one incumbent over another.
"You don't move council's agenda by yourself. You gotta have a great team," Griffin said. "And the people that have already been a part of the team are the people who I've pretty much supported."
Once these campaigns are over, Griffin will face another when the new cohort of council members enter chambers and he must defend his council presidency.
"I don't take that for granted that my colleagues automatically are going to pick me for the council presidency," Griffin said. "That's a seat that they have to make a decision on. And at the end of the day, you know, I hope to think that I did a good job for this first term. We'll see."
In the meantime, these council members said they’re doing what they do best: pounding the streets of Cleveland and meeting residents where they’re at.
"Always let people know you'll never take them for granted," Griffin said. "I've still run a campaign: been door knocking, going out, you know, trying to get to know new parts of the ward, letting people know my accomplishments and then letting everyone know my vision. Plus you want to keep that energy on the ground."
Election Day is Nov. 4.
