CINCINNATI — Longtime Hamilton Auditor Dusty Rhodes announced Friday that he will not run for re-election in 2022.
Rhodes, a conservative Democrat, has held the position for nearly 32 years. A successful run in the upcoming election would have given him a ninth term in office.
A headshot of Dusty Rhodes (provided)
Yet the outspoken and sometimes controversial Rhodes said via email that “After 30-plus years, it’s time to move on.” He said he plans to complete this term, which ends in March 2023.
“I am grateful to the citizens of Hamilton County for having the confidence and trust in me to elect me to a record eight (8) four-year terms as County Auditor,” Rhodes said in a statement. “I also thank our terrific staff who work with me and consistently meet the obligation of providing excellent service to citizens.”
The timing of the announcement is to give potential candidates “plenty of time to organize their campaigns for next year,” he said.
Rhodes has been popular with Hamilton County voters over the years despite being a Democrat in county that has leaned Republican histroically.
In 1990, he became the first candidate endorsed by the party, in two decades, to win a race for county administrative office. He was reelected every four years since and ran unopposed in 2002 and 2006.
He won in 2018 with 65% of the vote.
But Rhodes hasn’t always been a popular figure within his own party. That’s in part due to his oft-colorful comments on social media.
Tweets of his have voiced support for Donald Trump and criticism of other Democrats. He’s also made comments about various political and social issues that have angered Democrats — things like, Black Lives Matters and abortion rights.
Just wondering when they are going to paint “Black Lives Matter” on Auburn Avenue, you know, in front of that building where they terminate black lives and white ones, too, almost every day of the week.
— Dusty Rhodes (@AuditorRhodes) June 19, 2020
In May, the executive committee of the Hamilton County Democratic Party voted to withdraw support from Rhodes. They stated at the time that he was not “not in good standing” with the party.
Rhodes spent 21 years as a Delhi Township trustee before running for county auditor.
In the three decades that followed, he says his office has returned almost $50 million in unspent funds to the local governments, school districts and taxing entities in the county.
One of the things for which he’s most proud is reducing the staff of his office – through attrition – from over 200 in 1990 to about 80 today.
He also mentioned the creation of a public property website for Hamilton County and creating the county’s first Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).
“Among my regrets is our failure to convince the State Legislature to give us the authority to conduct internal audits of county government and important consumer protection ability to test fuel quality, along with volume, as well as closing the LLC loophole that allows real estate transactions to evade the transfer tax,” he said in his statement.
So far, there are no confirmed candidates in the 2022 county auditor’s race. But there is speculation that State Rep. Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati) is expected to announce her candidacy soon.
