The 2024 election is over. The 2025 Cleveland mayor’s race is here.
Two recent – though somewhat hidden – developments show how Mayor Justin Bibb’s term in office may be debated next year.
The first is a set of billboards on the outskirts of downtown Cleveland. Bearing the mayor’s name and smiling image, the billboards carry a brief, all-caps message: “THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP & SERVICE TO OUR CITY.”
An organization called the National Black Empowerment Action Fund paid for the billboards. This past election cycle, the group spent money against Democratic U.S. Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, both of whom lost their seats to primary challengers.
NBEAF founder Darius Jones previously worked for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to the group’s website.
The fund did not respond to emails requesting comment. On Instagram, Jones noted that NBEAF had bought billboards for several other mayors: Atlanta’s Andre Dickens; Frank Scott Jr. of Little Rock, Ark.; Randall Woodfin of Birmingham, Ala.; and Steven Reed of Montgomery, Ala.
On the anti-Bibb side of the coin is an anonymous website titled “Anyone But Bibb.” People inside and outside City Hall have been speculating about who might have set up the page.
The site lists grievances about “failed leadership,” housing costs and crime – the punches you’d expect a challenger to throw at an incumbent. It also tests out some Trump-style nicknames for the mayor: “Hollywood-Bibb” and “Generous-Justin.” While the latter may sound like a compliment, it is meant as a dig at Cleveland’s $20 million payment for Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse repairs.
Originally, Anyone But Bibb also solicited donations. With my editors’ blessing, I gave $1 to see if we could trace the money. My bank could tell me only a few things about the recipient. It was listed as a political entity based in Ohio. A phone number linked to the page turned out to be the main line for Squarespace, which hosts the site.
There was another clue. Buried in the website’s source code was the name of a former city employee. Signal Cleveland found an email address matching that name and sent some questions. We didn’t hear back. The donation page has disappeared, as has the name from the source code.
Reached by phone late Thursday afternoon, the former employee denied creating the site.
So that’s one mystery. The bigger mystery is this: Will anyone but Bibb even seek the mayor’s job next year?
Nina Turner and Council President Blaine Griffin have flirted with the idea. But as of this writing, no one has opened a mayoral campaign committee to raise and spend money on a 2025 bid.
