Who is Aftab Pureval? Indian-origin Cincinnati Mayor defeats JD Vance's half-brother, Cory Bowman, to win re-election

Indian-origin Aftab Pureval defeated JD Vance's half-brother Cory Bowman in the Cincinnati mayoral election, held on November 4, 2025. Pureval became the mayor of Cincinnati for the first time in November 2021. According to The Daily Beast, preliminary counting suggested that Bowman got just 18% of the votes.

Aftab Pureval became the first Asian-American mayor of Cincinnati when he was elected back in 2021. At the time, he earned the position by defeating former Cincinnati Mayor David Mann. According to The Associated Press, Pureval is inclined to the Democratic Party and achieved about 78% of the votes in the re-election. 

Apart from being the Cincinnati mayor, Pureval is also an attorney. The 43-year-old politician further is of Indian and Tibetan heritage. In November 2016, Aftab Pureval defeated Tracy Winkler and became the clerk of courts. In 2020, he was re-elected in the same position, beating Alex Glandorf.

Pureval tied the knot with Whitney Whitis and has two children as well. According to reports, Whitis is an internal medicine doctor at Bethesda North Hospital.

It was only in February that Cory Bowman announced his candidacy in the Cincinnati mayoral elections through an Instagram post. Speaking about his decision to run the race, Bowman wrote in the caption of the post,

"Weeks ago, my flight touched down at CVG, returning home from the most monumental inauguration in my generation. When I landed, I knew the city where my family and I live and love cannot fall behind in the critical years ahead." 

Exploring Aftab Pureval's education and personal life amid his victory in the Cincinnati mayoral election

Aftab Pureval has won the Cincinnati mayoral election for the second time. Born in September 1982 in Xenia, Ohio, Aftab has a Punjabi father and a Tibetan refugee mother. According to India Today, he had had a political inclination since a very young age. The outlet reported that he won his first-ever student election in class 8.

Aftab received his education from Beavercreek High School before getting enrolled at the Ohio State University in the year 2001. According to reports, in the same year he also got a small role in a film known as Blue Car. During his senior year, Aftab had become the president of the Undergraduate Student Government.

In 2005, he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. In the same year, the Cincinnati mayor attended the University of Cincinnati College of Law for further education. Three years later, in 2008, he got his Juris Doctor degree. 

In April 2017, Aftab got engaged to his wife, Whitney Whitis, before getting married a year later in May 2018. Just like Aftab, Whitney too is an alumna of the Ohio State University. The couple welcomed their first son, Bodhi, in 2019 and their second son, Rami, in 2022.

As previously stated, Aftab Pureval defeated Cory Bowman in the election. Bowman is the pastor at an evangelical church in the Ohio city. Bowman reportedly has an economics degree from Miami University as well as a ministry degree. Cory Bowman is also the half-brother of JD Vance, as they shared the same father, Donald Bowman.

Many netizens congratulated Pureval for the victory.