Aftab Pureval has been re-elected as the mayor of Cincinnati in a decisive win against Republican challenger Cory Bowman, who is the half-brother of US Vice President JD Vance. According to the Associated Press, Pureval secured nearly 80 per cent of the vote both in the May primary and the November general election reflecting strong public confidence in his leadership. While Cincinnati’s mayoral race is officially nonpartisan, Pureval is known to be aligned with the Democratic Party.
He was born in Ohio to immigrant parents – a Punjabi father and a Tibetan refugee mother. He demonstrated leadership from a young age in southwest Ohio, famously winning his eighth-grade student government election with the slogan, ‘Big, Brown and Beautiful.’
After graduating from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Pureval started his professional life in Washington, D.C., working as an attorney and a special assistant US attorney. He later served as legal counsel for Procter & Gamble before making the jump into politics in 2016.
Pureval’s family life: All about his parents, grandfather and sibling
Aftab Karma Singh Pureval was born on September 9, 1982 to Devinder Singh Pureval who moved to the US from Punjab and mother Drenko, a refugee from Tibet. Talking about her mother’s growing up years as a refugee in India, Pureval told PTI how his grandparents and mother “picked up and made their way through the Himalayas through Nepal and into India where she grew up as a refugee.” His beautiful and diverse family includes his younger brother Avid.
Pureval also revealed his paternal grandfather Brg. Ajit Singh was in the Indian military.
His name tells the story of both his Tibetan and Punjabi roots as he once revealed in an interview to The Lantern how ‘Karma’ is his Tibetan name and Singh reflects his connection with Punjab.
Aftab Pureval: First-term achievements and reforms
During his initial term as mayor, Pureval focused intensely on key city issues, including economic equity, public safety, affordable housing, and sustainability.
One of his most significant accomplishments was creating Cincinnati’s first-ever dedicated affordable housing trust fund. This was a crucial step in tackling the city’s housing crisis.
He also implemented innovative public safety reforms, which deployed unarmed mental health professionals to respond to specific nonviolent emergency calls. This compassionate approach aims to make community policing more effective. Furthermore, under his leadership, Cincinnati committed to achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2050 while also successfully restoring the city’s budget to fiscal balance after years of deficits.
Aftab Pureval net worth, assets and more
For the sake of public transparency, Aftab Pureval’s annual salary as mayor is officially recorded in government payrolls as $116,799 (1.03 crores approx). However, per Cincinnati’s financial disclosure rules, detailed information about the mayor’s personal assets and net worth is not publicly available. Officials are only required to declare assets within broad categories, not specific values or holdings. As of now, there are no verified reports or official estimates of Pureval’s net worth in public filings or media reports.
Vision for Cincinnati’s future
In his victory speech, Pureval revealed that his focus would be on building a safer, more inclusive, and sustainable Cincinnati. He explained expanding affordable housing, strengthening public safety systems, and creating a fair economy that works for all residents. His re-election marks a continuation of the progressive policies he began in his first term and positions him to guide the city through challenges like housing affordability, infrastructure modernisation, and environmental transition.
