How to run for Columbus City Council

What’s on the 2027 ballot

Winners take office in January 2028 for four-year terms. Not sure which district you live in? Look up your address on the City’s district map.

Who can run

• Every council candidate must be a Columbus voter and must have lived in the city for at least one year in a row before the primary. For the May 4, 2027 primary, that means since May 4, 2026 or earlier.
• District candidates must also have lived in the district they want to represent for at least one year before the primary, so in their district since May 4, 2026 or earlier, too.
• At-large candidates can live anywhere in Columbus.
• If you win, you have to keep living in the city (and, for a district seat, in your district) for your whole term, and you can’t hold another public office while you serve. The charter’s only exceptions are notary public, the state militia and military reserve units.

Source: city charter Sec. 6, as amended (Issue 9 certified full text).

Getting on the ballot, step by step

1. Confirm your district
   Check your address on the City’s district map. For a district seat, only voters registered in that district can sign your petition.
2. Choose a nominating committee
   Your petition has to list the names and addresses of five registered Columbus voters you choose in advance as your nominating committee.
3. Get the petition form from the Board
   The Board of Elections supplies the petition. Its 2027 schedule lists a “Columbus City Council” form for the district races. The at-large races aren’t on the schedule yet, so ask the Board which form to use for those. The rules for circulating petitions follow Ohio law for nonpartisan candidates; the Secretary of State publishes the state’s prescribed forms.
4. Collect signatures
   District seats: at least 150 signatures from voters registered in your district. At-large seats: at least 250 from voters registered anywhere in Columbus. The Board’s 2027 schedule was written before the vote and still says 250 for district seats; until the Board updates it, 250 valid signatures from your district meets either number.
5. File by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 3, 2027
   Turn in your petition at the Franklin County Board of Elections, 1700 Morse Road, Columbus 43229, with the $45 filing fee: a $20 filing fee plus a $25 fee set by state law. The charter sets the deadline: 4 p.m., 90 days before the primary.
6. The Board certifies the candidates
   The Board reviews each petition and certifies the candidates who qualify for the ballot. It decides whether a petition and its signatures are valid.

Sources: charter Sec. 41-3, as amended (Issue 9 full text); Board of Elections 2027 Primary Election Schedule with Candidate Requirements (dated September 14, 2026).

The primary and the general election

The primary is Tuesday, May 4, 2027. Everyone who qualifies for a seat runs on one nonpartisan ballot, and the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election on Tuesday, November 2, 2027. In a district race, only voters who live in that district vote, in the primary and in November.

If no more than two candidates qualify for a district seat, there’s no primary for that seat. Both candidates go straight to the November ballot.

Write-in candidates file a declaration with the Board instead of a petition, and pay the same $45 fee. The Board’s deadlines are 4:00 p.m. on Monday, February 22, 2027 for the primary and 4:00 p.m. on Monday, August 23, 2027 for the general election. After the primary, a write-in declaration is the only way to enter a November council race.

Sources: charter Sec. 41-3(b), 41-5 and 41-5-1, as amended (Issue 9 full text); Board 2027 primary schedule; Board 2027 general schedule.

Money and disclosure

Campaign finance

Columbus has its own campaign-finance law, in Chapter 107 of the City Code, on top of Ohio’s. The basics:

• File a designation of treasurer before you accept any contribution or spend any money. It registers your campaign committee with the Board of Elections.
• File your campaign-finance reports with both the Board of Elections and the Columbus City Clerk. City reports go into the City’s online campaign-finance database.
• Contributions are capped. For 2025–2027, the City’s limit on contributions to a council campaign is $16,615.67 per calendar year from any single donor. The City adjusts its limits each February in odd-numbered years, so new limits arrive in February 2027.
• If your committee’s contributions, spending and debt each stay under $1,000, you can file a Notice of Exemption (Form CCF-01) with the City instead of that period’s report. You still report the amounts later, and the notice can’t replace an annual report.

Sources: City of Columbus Office of Ethics & Campaign Finance, its 2026 filing reference guide, 2025–2027 contribution limits and FAQ; the Board’s Local Candidate’s Guide to Campaign Finance; the Secretary of State’s Campaign Finance Handbook.

Financial disclosure

Council candidates also file a personal financial disclosure statement, with both the Ohio Ethics Commission ($35 fee) and the Columbus City Clerk (no fee). Deadlines depend on the filer, so check the Commission’s schedule.

Sources: Ohio Ethics Commission, Financial Disclosure; City of Columbus financial disclosure FAQ.

Looking ahead to 2029

In 2029, Districts 1, 3, 4 and 7 are on the ballot, along with two more at-large seats that take office in January 2030, when council reaches 13 members. Those district races use a new map, drawn on this schedule:

District candidates need a year in their district before the primary, so if you’re thinking about 2029, check where the new lines fall as soon as Council adopts them.

If you win a district seat in 2027: your term runs through 2031, so the new map takes effect partway through it. Under the charter, a member whose term won’t end within two years of the new boundaries taking effect represents, for the rest of the term, the new district that contains the largest share of the people in their old one. If two members would land in the same district, the adopted map says who represents which.

Sources: charter Sec. 4-2, 4-3, 7 and 7-3, as amended (Issue 9 full text).

Still to be settled

• Updated Board requirements. The Board’s 2027 schedule (September 14, 2026) predates the vote. It lists 250 signatures for district seats and has no at-large seats or at-large petition form.
• How the at-large races will run: how the two seats appear on the ballot, and how many candidates it takes to trigger an at-large primary.
• Running for two seats at once. The charter doesn’t address filing for both a district seat and an at-large seat. Ohio law bars seeking two or more municipal offices at the same election, so ask the Board how it applies before filing for both.
• Certification. The charter amendments passed according to unofficial results. The county boards of elections certify the results by November 24, 2026.

We’ll update this guide as the Board and Council settle these. To check anything yourself, call the Franklin County Board of Elections at (614) 525-3100. For background on the changes, see Issues 8 and 9: results and what changes and how council works.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. The Franklin County Board of Elections decides whether a petition is valid and who qualifies for the ballot.