Incumbent commissioners win big in Dayton city races

Mims, who will get a second term, comfortably finished in second in the four-way race with 26.6 percent of the vote, besting challengers Darryl Fairchild and Shenise Turner-Sloss, the results show.

Fairchild received about 22.7 percent of the vote and Turner-Sloss got 20.6 percent.

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Historically, incumbents tend to have the upper hand in Dayton commission races, but upsets do happen, and Fairchild lost his bid for a commission seat two years ago by a historically small margin.

Williams and Mims said Dayton, despite having some significant challenges, is headed in the right direction and voters seemed to express that at the ballot box.

Williams said he was honest with voters on the campaign trail and shared what the city has done and what it is doing to improve Dayton and their lives.

“I never claimed the city was perfect — we have a lot to work on and I think we have a lot of improvements that we need,” he said. “But I also told voters that I was very confident that the team on the city commission has done a really good job, given the issues that we face.”

Mims said his re-election hopefully confirms that residents are pleased with city leadership and approve of their performance. He said Dayton residents definitely would let its leaders know at the polls if they were unhappy with city services.

Mims said he hopes to strengthen the city’s partnership with the school district to accelerate the city’s resurgence even further.

“More has happened in the city of Dayton in the last four years than has happened in the last 30 years,” he said, adding that the next four years can be just as productive.

Mims and Williams easily defeated their competition when they ran in 2013. This race was tighter, but it was not as close as some predicted it would be.

Fairchild, the manager of chaplain services at Dayton Children’s, barely lost his bid for a commission seat two years ago, and Turner-Sloss is an active community member with experience in city government.

But incumbents are the smart money in city races.

The last incumbent Dayton city commissioner to lose was Idotha Bootsie Neal, who was defeated in 2003 by newcomer Matt Joseph, who still serves on the commission.