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Jesse Vogel
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Jesse Vogel ran for election to the Columbus City Council to represent District 7 in Ohio. He lost in the general election on November 4, 2025.
Vogel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in Columbus, Ohio (2025)
General election
General election for Columbus City Council District 7
Tiara Ross defeated Jesse Vogel in the general election for Columbus City Council District 7 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tiara Ross (Nonpartisan)  | 50.7 | 54,419 |
| Jesse Vogel (Nonpartisan) | 49.3 | 52,843 | ||
| Total votes: 107,262 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Columbus City Council District 7
Tiara Ross and Jesse Vogel defeated Kate Curry‐Da‐Souza in the primary for Columbus City Council District 7 on May 6, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tiara Ross (Nonpartisan) | 40.8 | 16,351 |
| ✔ | Jesse Vogel (Nonpartisan) | 39.1 | 15,671 | |
 | Kate Curry‐Da‐Souza (Nonpartisan) | 20.0 | 8,023 | |
| Total votes: 40,045 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Aurora Dasan (Nonpartisan)
- Densil Porteous (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
Vogel received the following endorsements.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jesse Vogel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vogel's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a Columbus native, Democrat, lawyer, and community advocate. I was born in District 7 and currently reside in Columbus' Olde Towne East neighborhood, and have built my life and career here as a legal services attorney. I was raised to see the value in all people, all work, and the importance of standing up for those most vulnerable and fighting for what’s right. I grew up supporting Democrats, and one of my first jobs was as a campus organizer for Issue 2, the 2011 ballot initiative to overturn an attack on public sector collective bargaining. I ultimately decided to pursue a career in public interest law - using legal advocacy to help strengthen communities, which is what I have done at Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio and is what I do day in and day out today for immigrants and their families at Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS). In 2020, I co-founded a grassroots tenants’ rights project, the Central Ohio Housing Action Network, which brought together hundreds of volunteers to provide legal information and mutual aid to tenants facing eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m also part of Columbus’ LGBT and Jewish communities and am committed to standing up for diversity that makes our city and District 7 great. I have always been passionate about public service, and I know that to protect and strengthen our community, we need leaders who will stand up, ask tough questions, and build lasting coalitions to deliver for working people.
- First and foremost, I am focused on safe, equitable, affordable housing. Housing is a major cost making life harder to afford in Columbus and we have to be focused on increasing housing supply and protections to keep people housed. I’m informed by work I’ve done representing low income tenants facing this housing crisis, and I'm passionate about utilizing this knowledge and experience to find solutions. I hope to create and implement a housing strategy that brings down cost and protects Columbus residents from bad actors in the housing marketplace and better uses our current housing resources. I want to see housing elevated as a priority in City government and involve community experts and partners who can help us fill in the gaps.
- In order to build a Columbus that works for all of us, we also need to improve and expand access to public transit, along with infrastructure like bike lanes/sidewalks. Last year, our community passed an historic investment in LinkUS - we need to make sure those funds are spent to benefit our neighborhoods, not just developers downtown. As council member, I’d advocate for that, with the touchstone being with the key being fast, frequent, reliable, and accessible service. I am also an advocate for $0 fare transit, to increase ridership and decrease barriers. Our public transit system needs to work reliably for everyone, and City leaders should involve input from the public and local labor to make this a reality and ensure accountability.
- The future of our city relies on our kids and future generations, so we need to go big at supporting our youth. Our public education is in crisis not because of teachers or staff of our city schools but because of a concerted attack from the state house and White House. I’ll work alongside unions to advocate for universal pre-K to prepare our kids for long term success. We need a real system for engaging effectively with students, parents, and the community about education issues, and we need to advocate for our city's youth by digging into what it takes to expand access to things like childcare, after school programs, and restorative practices to help kids and young adults deal with trauma.
In addition to the above areas of affordable housing, public transit, and supporting youth in Columbus, I am passionate about the safety and quality of life of the LGBTQ+ community, government transparency and accountability, and advocating for local labor to bring good union jobs to Columbus. I am also focused on protecting our ever-growing immigrant and refugee population and making sure they have access to the resources they need to thrive in Columbus.
An elected official should value honesty, trust, and communication. They should be willing and active listeners and possess a strong work ethic. Entire communities of people rely on our elected officials to feel heard and represented, and they place their trust in them to take care of the most pressing issues facing them day-to-day. If an official isn’t committed to listening to those concerns and willing to fight for solutions, they won’t be able to represent their constituents effectively. An elected official should also be comfortable asking uncomfortable questions and taking accountability. We need less of the status quo that only serves the interests of few, and more pressure on leaders to actually listen and work collaboratively to find solutions that work for the community as a whole. We are stronger when we work together, and we need elected officials who make that a priority.
As a public interest lawyer, I have advocated for tenants struggling to keep their families in safe housing, families trying to navigate a broken local public housing authority, and immigrants, who make Columbus the growing city it is, seeking safety and opportunity here in the United States. It’s my relationship with these clients and the stories they’ve shared with me that motivate me to run for this seat and will continue to motivate me to fight for their best interests as a member of Council. I have always been a community advocate, both inside and outside of my legal work, and I was raised to see the value in community and working together to make it a place where everyone can thrive. I am a first-time candidate, which means I am not encumbered by the pressure of the establishment and upholding the status quo. Right now, what our city needs is someone who cares about the quality of life for Columbus residents more than they care about party politics, and I believe I’m that person.
One of my first jobs was as a campus organizer for AFSCME in the fight against SB5, a law passed in 2011 that would restrict the right of public sector employees to collectively bargain. In that time, I stood up with organized labor against Republicans in the statehouse trying to undermine workers’ rights. I’d do that again as Council Member.
Like any job, I believe that previous experience can be beneficial, but that doesn’t mean someone with no prior experience can’t succeed, or that someone with decades of experience is right for the job. I believe it’s more important for a potential holder of this office to be committed to the betterment of their community and be willing to work hard to achieve that. Previous experience in government and politics can be useful, and I intend to use my experience as an organizer and campaign volunteer to help navigate City Hall. That being said, I don’t think being a first-time candidate is a disadvantage. Conversely, I believe it gives me the edge of being outside of the status quo and the ability to ask tough questions and look for creative solutions.
I am proud to be endorsed by the Working Families Party and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. I have also been endorsed by current Columbus City Schools Board member Sarah Ingles, and organizer and Franklin County Democratic Party Executive Committee member Ben Leland.
Financial transparency and government accountability are paramount, especially in today’s political landscape. In the age of “fake news” and officials who make false promises, it’s more important than ever to demand these things from our leaders whether it’s at the local, state, or federal level. In Columbus, too many residents are in the dark or unclear on how our city government operates and how they can take action when policies are implemented that don’t serve their best interests. They deserve to know where our elected officials are getting their money and exactly how they’re spending it. That’s an issue I’m prepared to face head on when elected to council. I’m interested in digging into where our resources are being allocated and ensuring they’re being used effectively in ways that actually serve their intended purpose. To continue to make progress as a growing city, people need to be able to trust their elected representatives and believe they’ll be held accountable if they act against the interests of their voters.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Columbus City Council District 7 |
Personal |
Footnotes
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