CANTON, Ohio — The votes are in, and Canton officially has a new mayor.
Residents elected City Council President William V. Sherer II as their new chief executive Tuesday night, with the Democrat besting Republican challenger Roy Scott DePew by more than 30 percentage points. It's one of the largest margins of victory for a contested Canton mayoral race in decades.
Sherer, a Canton native and McKinley High School alum, is a former ironworker and union leader who was elected council president four years ago. He beat former state Rep. Thomas West by just 66 votes in the Democratic mayoral primary last May, with current Mayor Thomas Bernabei's preferred candidate — Council Majority Leader Bill Smuckler — finishing a distant third.
Leaning on his organized labor background, Sherer focused his campaign on protections to the working class as well as improvements to city infrastructure. He has also vowed to "work to ensure our safety forces have the resources they need to keep us safe."
DePew is also a son of Canton, touting a business background of more than two decades. His platform also emphasized public safety, with the candidate claiming citizens "have a 1 in 20 chance of being a victim of a crime."
Bernabei, who was first elected mayor as an independent in 2015 before eventually rejoining the Democrats, announced late last year he would not seek a third term in office.
