JD Vance’s brother Cory Bowman is preparing for the Cincinnati Mayoral Primary

Cincinnati, Ohio — King’s Arms Coffee stirs up conversations between customers on Friday morning.

Corey Bowman stands behind the counter at a neighboring gathering location on the western edge of Cincinnati, and smiles and laughs when his patron asks about a Spanish drink called Cortado.

It consists of being mixed with an equal amount of espresso and warm milk, which reduces acidity, explains Bowman.

“I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that five years ago. I was the guy who bought coffee from a gas station until my wife urged me to raise my coffee game.

When Bowman opened Kings Arms in 2022, Coffee was an unfamiliar venture.

The 36-year-old father of three entered another unfamiliar arena earlier this year. He is running for mayor of Cincinnati, a city that has not elected Republicans in that post since the 1970s.

Related Stories

Bowman’s mayoral bid has attracted the public’s attention. He is the younger brother of Vice President JD Vance.

On April 25, Bowman told the Epoch Times that he attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration and never imagined his advance into local politics until his brother was sworn as vice president.

“When I returned to Ohio after the inauguration, I was clicked that running for the mayor could be a way of impacting life,” Bowman said. “I’ve seen the inspiration and impact he brings at the national level, which motivated me to do the same here.”

“I’m not focusing on discussing policy about Ukraine. I want to talk about fixing the hole here. What’s going on in Washington isn’t my stage. My focus is Cincinnati,” Bowman added, noting that he has a background in economics, statistics and management.

Bowman and his wife, Jordan, live in the College Hill area of ​​Cincinnati. They co-pastors at the river church on the western edge of the city, not far from the coffee shop. The couple is looking for a fourth child in June.

Bowman grew up on a farm outside Hamilton, about 25 miles north of Cincinnati.

“We’ve always thought of a Cincinnati home and spent a lot of time going to baseball games and concerts,” he said.

Bowman holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Miami in Oxford in southwestern Ohio.

He moved to Tampa and studied for the Ministry of River University, where he met Jordan, a native of Oklahoma.

“I prayed that the Lord would put it in his heart to love Cincinnati just as much as I did. After the visit, she told me this was where we wanted our family to be raised,” Bowman said.

The couple moved to Cincinnati in 2020 after living in Tampa for nine years. They launched the Cincinnati River in 2020.

JD Vance was born and raised in Middletown, between Cincinnati and Dayton in southwestern Ohio. He and his wife, Usha, purchased a Cincinnati home in 2018.

Bowman and Vance share the same father. Vance’s mother is Beverly Eikins. Donald Bowman was her second husband.

In Vance’s bestselling memoir, “Hilbilly Elegy,” he writes that his biological father was largely missing in his childhood.

When Vance was a toddler, Bowman, who passed away in 2023, came to the family. Vance eventually took their names after caring for his maternal grandparents, James and Bonnie Vance.

Corey Bowman said when Vance was 13, he asked Donald Bowman and his younger brother and sister to meet. He spent several weeks with the Bowman family one summer at Western Farm, Ohio.

The brothers have since developed strong bonds, Bowman told the Epoch Times.

Vance occasionally texts and asks how the mayoral campaign is progressing, Bowman said, but said he has no role in the campaign.

“JD is my brother and he is not a political counselor,” Bowman said. “I don’t speak for my brother because he speaks pretty well for himself. He’s an incredible role model for me and I say I’m proud of him.”

Bowman said he was also motivated to run for mayor at the time, as incumbent Democrat Aftab Purebal was not opposed in his reelection bid.

Another Republican candidate, Navy veteran Brian Frank, took part in the race almost at the same time, creating a three-way primary on May 6th.

Cincinnati, Ohio’s third largest city with around 310,000 residents, has a nonpartisan mayoral race. The top two voters who are key advances into the general election in November.

Ohio has a strong Republican presence.

Trump has comfortably won the state three times. Vance was elected to the Senate in 2022, replacing longtime Republican Rep. Rob Portman. Trump recruited Bernie Moreno defeated longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November. Ohio has Republican Governor Mike DeWine and a Republican super majority in the state legislature.

But Democrats control Cincinnati, which has an all-democratic city council.

When Trump registered an overwhelming victory last November, 77% of Cincinnati voters voted for then-President Kamala Harris.

Of the 15 US Congressmen in Ohio, 10 are Republicans.

Ohio’s First Congressional District, including Cincinnati, is represented by Democrat Greg Landsman, who defeated incumbent Republican Steve Chabbott and Republican Challenger Orlando Sonza in 2022 in November.

Ken Blackwell was Cincinnati’s last Republican mayor, serving from 1978 to 1980. Republicans have not run for city mayor since 2009, when Brad Wenstrup lost before he eventually represented the US.

Pureval, 42, is seeking a second term as mayor of Cincinnati. The Democrat is a lawyer and former special aide, serving as clerk at Hamilton County Courthouse before winning the 2021 mayoral election with about 66% of the votes.

Bowman is widely aware of the key challenges he faces Republicans running for Cincinnati. He is not upset.

“We have a 100% Democrat-controlled council and mayor, merely reflecting all of their opinions, and these views have not been successful for the past four years.

Bowman’s platform focuses on reducing gun violence and improving economic development and overall living conditions in neighborhoods such as the West End and Downtown. Other sections of Cincinnati are not attracting the same attention as the downtown area, Bowman believes.

“Conversations with people running for the mayor are like, ‘Are you red or blue, right or left?’ They know my ideas and want a plan to make the city a better place,” Bowman added.

Bowman said he didn’t vote in the last mayoral election and never voted in the Cincinnati election. Pureval said candidates “do not necessarily have a track record or a deep commitment to the city or have a relationship like that.”

When Pureval first ran for the mayor, voter turnout was a record 24%.

Regarding his voting record, Bowman told the Epoch Times that only 26% of voters voted in the last mayoral election.

“You’re talking about about three-quarters of voters who didn’t see the point. Perhaps a lot of them didn’t feel like they had options. This time there’s options,” Bowman said.

“Since we started our church and started our business in the West End, we have had front row seats in some policies that have impacted our city and its residents and citizens,” Bowman added. “Our aim is to have a positive impact on the cities we love.”

Frank is the second Republican in the mayoral primary. He says he is not a Maga Republican and is sincerely supportive of Trump’s “America’s Great Again” agenda, but has voted for Trump in the last three presidential elections.

“There are a few things Trump is doing, but I don’t accept all of that,” Frank told the Cincinnati Enquiler earlier this year.

Pureval has been criticizing Bowman for his merely living in Cincinnati since 2020, but he has disciplined Frank with the theme of the “Make Cincinnati Great” campaign.

“Cincinnati is great right now,” Purebar said in a recent discussion.

When asked about Bowman, Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Alex Lincer told the Cincinnati Enquiler: “That’s the beauty of our system. Anyone can run for the mayor. Mayor Purebal does a great job and everyone can see the city running better than before he took office.”

Lincer added that Cincinnati voters “have a lot of trust in Democratic leaders” and “it’s a safe and transportable city where they can raise their families.”

“We don’t need the kind of confusion that comes out of the Trump presidency infiltrating city hall,” he said.

Bowman wouldn’t have said if Vance would return to Cincinnati and move beyond the May 6th primary, he would attend the rally leading up to the November general election.

“What I want to do most is having lunch because he’s my brother,” Bowman said. “What I hope is that the public’s attention in this election will continue to be noticed as it shows the importance of local politics.”

“Because every aspect of local government is valuable because it directly affects you in your own backyard,” Bowman said.

“It’s good to give your opinion on national issues, but what about the crime we drive on the streets and in the neighborhood? What about economic development and education in Cincinnati?” Bowman added.

“If we are elected, what we can accomplish will be able to actively set up cities for years to come, and that’s the intent of this campaign.”