COLUMBUS, Ohio — The union representing Columbus firefighters has broken with Mayor Andrew Ginther and endorsed City Council President Shannon Hardin for mayor in 2027, delivering an early and unusually public rebuke of the incumbent nearly a year before voters decide the race. International Association of Fire Fighters Local 67 announced the endorsement on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at its union hall, after members voted on the endorsement, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Local 67 represents about 1,700 employees of the Columbus Division of Fire, making it one of the largest unions in city government, the Dispatch reported. Union leaders told the Dispatch the early timing was deliberate: a message that rank-and-file firefighters are unhappy with how Ginther has overseen staffing shortfalls and an aging fleet of fire apparatus at the division.
IAFF Local 67 President Steve Stein said a litany of issues contributed to the members’ decision, he told The Columbus Dispatch. Firefighters have raised concerns for years about minimum staffing on trucks and engines, overtime demands, and how long front-line vehicles stay in service before replacement.
The relationship between the mayor’s office and the union was further strained when Ginther ousted former Fire Chief Jeffrey Happ, who enjoyed strong support from the firefighters union, according to the Dispatch. The chief’s removal became a flashpoint in a broader dispute over the direction of the division and who sets its priorities.
Hardin, accepting the endorsement, said he was honored by the union’s support and promised to launch a comprehensive fire and emergency services modernization initiative within his first 100 days as mayor, one built in partnership with Local 67, the Dispatch reported. The pledge puts public safety — and the fire division’s equipment and staffing — at the center of his campaign’s opening argument.
The mayor’s race is technically nonpartisan, and the field is still taking shape. If more than two candidates make the ballot, a primary election on May 4 will narrow the field, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the Nov. 2 general election, according to the Dispatch.
Not every city union is moving this early. The union representing Columbus police generally does not endorse before a primary, Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9 President Brian Steel said, according to the Dispatch, and the city’s largest union, AFSCME Local 1632, has not begun its endorsement process, its president, Will Harmon, told the Dispatch.
The endorsement lands in a season when Columbus-area local governments are making hard calls about public safety services. In Franklin County, Mifflin Township disbanded its police division this week after voters rejected a levy, while investment in the region’s growth continues, including OhioHealth’s $700 million New Albany hospital plan.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: Local 67’s members voted to endorse Hardin, union leaders announced it publicly on Nov. 11, and staffing and fleet concerns were the stated reasons, according to the Dispatch. What we’re still waiting on: a response from Mayor Ginther’s office and campaign, the final shape of the mayoral field, and whether other city unions follow the firefighters’ early lead.
The timeline explains the union’s urgency. A May 4 primary and a Nov. 2, 2027 general election mean the next mayor will not take office for more than a year, but endorsements this early shape fundraising, staffing and the terms of debate. By moving now, Local 67 has made fire staffing and apparatus replacement a test every candidate will be measured against, rather than an issue that surfaces in the final weeks.
Ginther, for his part, has pointed in past budget seasons to the city’s investments in public safety and to new fire stations and equipment purchases funded under his administration. How his campaign answers the union’s specific complaints — minimum staffing levels, the age of the fleet, and the fallout from Chief Happ’s removal — will be the first real exchange of the race, and it begins more than five months before primary ballots are cast.
What happens next is a long campaign runway. Candidates continue pulling petitions, the primary field settles ahead of May 4, and both campaigns will have to answer the question Local 67 put on the table this week: who has the better plan for a fire division that says it is short on people and running old trucks.