JD Vance’s half-brother, Cory Bowman, lost his bid for Cincinnati mayor on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
Bowman, a Republican, had been trying to unseat 42-year-old Democrat Aftab Pureval, who was first elected in 2021. Early results in the heavily Democratic city showed Bowman with just 18 percent of the vote, with 22 percent of ballots counted.
Bowman, 36, announced his campaign in February.
“Weeks ago, my flight touched down at CVG, returning home from the most monumental inauguration in my generation,” he wrote on Instagram after attending his half-brother’s inauguration as vice president. “When I landed, I knew the city where my family and I live and love cannot fall behind in the critical years ahead.”
After moving to Cincinnati in 2020, Bowman and his wife, Jordan, founded The River Church, a nondenominational outfit that encourages Christians to speak in tongues.
In the final week of his campaign, Bowman faced an allegation of voting fraud. According to Ohio newsletter The Rooster, two addresses affiliated with Bowman aren’t in Cincinnati’s “West End,” which is where said he moved to “right after the primary” in May. Bowman didn’t respond to those claims at the time.
Bowman, who made public safety the focus of his campaign, was endorsed by his half-brother before the May 6 primary.
“He’s a good guy with a heart for serving his community,” Vance wrote on X.
But Bowman’s bid was always a long shot. The last time a Republican was even on the mayoral ballot in Cincinnati was 2009. The city’s most recent GOP mayor was in 1971—when the role was filled by rotating city councilors rather than candidates who were elected by the public to the job.
Bowman and Vance share the same father, Donald Bowman, who left the family when Vance was a toddler. When Vance was 13, he wanted to meet his dad and two half-siblings. Cory Bowman, who is five years younger than Vance, previously said that the two grew closer over time.
