Tuesday is the primary election in May, and the turnout has already been significantly higher than four years ago.

The Cincinnati mayoral race is attracting more people, and the third problem, the affordable housing problem, is also a contributing factor.

In 2017, there were 4,400 early votes. This time there were 7,500.

“People are more interested in control, in their lives and voting is one way of doing it. You might also think it’s because people are at home and thinking about elections, but I hope it’s because people take our democracy seriously, ”said Sally Krisel, deputy director of the electoral council. Hamilton County.

Cincinnati voters will pick two mayoral candidates and dismiss four.

The candidates:

Gavi Begtrup, scientist, business owner and former political adviser to US Representative Gabby Giffords.

David Mann is a lawyer and current board member. He was a former congressman and has served as mayor twice.

Herman Najoli is an educator and author, a soccer, basketball and track and field coach, and last year a candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner.

Raffel Prophett is a retired Cincinnati fire district chief and a retired Army Reserve Lt. Col. He is the co-founder of Public Medical, a group that works to transform public safety and community health systems.

Aftab Pureval is currently the Hamilton County Courts Clerk. He is a former federal prosecutor and in-house counsel at Proctor and Gamble.

Cecil Thomas is currently a Senator for the State of Ohio. He’s a former Cincinnati city councilor, a former director of human relations, and a retired Cincinnati police officer.

Four years ago the primary participation rate was 11% and eight years ago it was 5%.

This time, Hamilton County predicts it could reach 20%.

But even still, it is predicted that 80% of the people will not vote at all, leaving the big decisions to a small minority.

Local polling stations are open all day from 6.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.

To find the location closest to you or to view a sample ballot, click here.