Dayton voters face May runoff for city commission; mayor race set for November

The runoff election on May 6 will narrow the field from five to four, and the top four vote-getters will compete for two commission seats in the November general election.

The candidates are incumbent Commissioner Darryl Fairchild, and challengers Karen Wick, Darius Beckham, Charles Jacob Davis and Valerie Duncan.

The city commission definitely will get at least one new face next year since current City Commissioner Shenise Turner-Sloss has decided to throw her hat into the mayor’s race rather than to run for commission again.

Turner-Sloss will face incumbent Jeffrey Mims Jr. in November, as both of them had their petitions approved Tuesday. No runoff vote is needed for mayor since there are only two candidates.

On Tuesday morning, the Montgomery County Board of Elections certified the petitions of the five city commission hopefuls.

Board of Elections Director Jeff Rezabek said all of the candidates submitted filings with at least 500 valid signatures.

Commissioner Fairchild is hoping to win a commission seat for the third time.

Fairchild, who is the manager of chaplain services at Dayton Children’s Hospital, won a special election in mid-2018 and then was reelected several years later.

Wick is a member of the Dayton Board of Education who owns Coco’s Bistro, a restaurant in the city’s South Park neighborhood. She’s served on the school board since 2018.

Beckham until recently was Mayor Mims’ senior policy aide who has been involved in multiple initiatives to try to reduce gun violence and improve youth engagement. He previously was a legislative aide for former Mayor Nan Whaley.

Davis is a local attorney who used to enforce the city’s anti-discrimination laws when he worked for the Human Relations Council (HRC). He now has his law firm, Nalls Davis, where he says he focuses on helping small businesses, nonprofits, fair housing organizations and real estate professionals.

Duncan is a retired public servant who previously worked for the city of Dayton, Montgomery County and the state of Ohio. Duncan has run unsuccessfully for a commission seat a few previous times.