Yvette Renee Simpson (born August 2, 1978) is an American politician, lawyer, former member of the

Cincinnati City Council The Cincinnati City Council is the lawmaking body of Cincinnati, Ohio. The nine-member city council is elected at-large in a single election in which each voter chooses nine candidates from the field. The nine top vote-getters win seats on the co ...

. She is the former chief executive of Democracy for Americabr>

Education

Simpson received an undergraduate degree from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

, a J.D. degree from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, and an M.B.A. from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

Political career

She was sworn into the

in 2011, which led to the Council having its first African-American majority. Simpson unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Mayor

John Cranley John Joseph Cranley (born February 28, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 2013 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a member of the Cincinnati City Council and a partner ...

in the 2017 Cincinnati mayoral election. She received a greater percentage of the votes in the primary (45%) than her top competitors Cranley (35%) or Rob Richardson Jr. (20%). She lost in the general election, Cranley (53.95%) Simpson (46.05%), against incumbent Mayor

in the 2017 Cincinnati mayoral election.

Democracy for America

On January 1, 2019, Simpson became chief executive of Democracy for America, a national progressive grassroots organizing group founded by former presidential candidate

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

. She is the group's first ever female chief executive. Simpson announced she would step down from the position in 2022. She resigned from DfA on 7 December 2022 as the organization neared bankruptc

Personal life

In June 2019, she became a political news contributor with American Broadcasting Company, ABC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Yvette 1978 births Living people Cincinnati City Council members Ohio Democrats Ohio lawyers Women city councillors in Ohio African-American city council members in Ohio Miami University alumni Xavier University alumni University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni 21st-century Ohio politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians