Aftab Pureval, the son of a Punjabi father and a Tibetan refugee mother who made history as Cincinnati’s first Asian-American Mayor in 2021, has been reelected for a second term.
Pureval, 43, defeated Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother, pastor and coffee shop owner Cory Bowman by 78.2% to 21.8% votes in Tuesday’s election.
The race is officially nonpartisan, but Pureval is a Democrat and Bowman is a Republican.
“I’m humbled, and I’m ready, to continue our work for the next four years,” he posted on X after his victory.
He had already signaled his strong public support earlier this year, sweeping the all-party municipal primary in May with more than 80% of the vote.
Born in Ohio, Pureval was politically inclined from a young age, winning his first-ever student election in class 8 under the slogan “Big, Brown and Beautiful.”
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After graduating from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Pureval moved to Washington, D.C., in 2008, where he worked at a law firm. After four years, he returned to Hamilton County, Ohio, to serve as a special assistant US attorney with the Department of Justice.
In 2013, he joined Ohio-based consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble as legal counsel, where he worked as the global brand attorney for popular skincare brand Olay. Three years later, he left the company to formally launch his political career.
Political success, however, did not come immediately. In 2018, Pureval contested the election for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District but lost to Republican incumbent Steve Chabot.
Pureval formally announced his candidacy for the Cincinnati mayoral election in 2021. In the primary elections, he emerged as the frontrunner, securing 39% of the votes in a crowded field of six candidates.
Later that year, he defeated fellow Democrat and former mayor David S Mann with 66% of the vote, making history as Cincinnati’s first Asian-American mayor.
The eldest child of first-generation immigrants, Pureval’s full name reflects the winding path of history and culture that led his family from Tibet, to India, to the American heartland, according to his website. “Karma” is Aftab’s Tibetan name, meaning “destiny.”
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Born in a mountainside tent, Pureval’s Tibetan mother fled Communist Chinese occupation as a child before growing up in a Southern Indian refugee camp.
As a student, she met Aftab’s Punjabi father, whose last name, “Pureval,” harkens to the farming village his family hails from. In honor of his faith, Aftab’s father passed on the traditional male Sikh name “Singh,” meaning “Lion.”
Seeking a future free from oppression or stigma, Pureval’s parents looked to the endless opportunities of a life in America.
Beginning their family in the sleepy suburb of Beavercreek, Ohio, they bestowed names imbued with each of their histories and cultures. With the hope of their new American life, they named their son after the old Persian word for “sunshine”: Aftab.
Raised on student government and school athletics, Pureval enrolled at The Ohio State University, where he studied political science before earning his law degree from the University of Cincinnati.
In law school, Aftab worked with the UC Domestic Violence Clinic, representing survivors of abuse who couldn’t afford an attorney in the Warren County Domestic Relations Court.