Cranley surprised even mom with bid for Congress

Councilman John Cranley and his mom, newly elected school board member Susan Cranley, celebrate their feat as dual top vote-getters on Election Night. (Photo by Tara Bricking Carvalho/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Councilman John Cranley filed paperwork Friday to run for the U.S. House seat now held by Republican Steve Chabot, the Enquirer's Howard Wilkinson reported today.

Coming as it did the day after he was sworn in to a third term on City Council, the timing of the filing surprised a lot of people.

But when Cranley made the announcement at a meeting of the Hamilton County Democratic Executive Committee Saturday, no one was more surprised than Cranley's mother, Susan Cranley, who was elected to the Cincinnati Board of Education last month and is a Democratic precinct executive.

"If you think that I knew he filed to run for Congress, you would be wrong," she said outside the meeting. She even made a note to tell Cranley's dad, John J. Cranley III, what their son had just announced his candidacy.

One guy who wasn't surprised was former Mayor Charlie Luken. Stopping by the Democratic gathering to accept a standing ovation on his way to Pittsburgh for the Bengals game, Luken said taking back the 1st Congressional district should be a top Democratic priority.

"My father, as you know, knows every crack in every sidewalk in the district," said Luken, son of former seven-term U.S. Rep. Thomas A. Luken, and who held the seat himself for one term. "I've always said it makes absolutely no sense for a Democrat not to hold that seat. It makes less sense that Steve Chabot is representing it.''

"I want to mention one guy who I'm encouraging to run, and that's John Cranley," Luken said in introducing Cranley. "I think he's a great fit for the district. I think John is a guy who can win."