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It’s now or never for Louisville. 

This past year has shined a bright light on the longstanding problems in our city and it’s past time for action.

We must come together and build a more just and inclusive city for every Louisvillian, no matter the color of their skin. We must make sure every family is safe and secure. We must provide more opportunities for everyone to succeed. We must help our schools improve and work for every child in every part of the city.

My whole career I’ve tackled tough challenges and worked to make dreams realities. As Mayor, I’ll work with you and your neighbors to do the same for Louisville. 

Together, we will build a more dynamic, inclusive and healthy Louisville.  I’m running for Mayor to build a brighter tomorrow, today. We must act now! 

Thank you.  I’m ready to get to work for you. 

Meet Craig

Craig is a proud Louisvillian, husband, father, entrepreneur, and community leader who believes in thinking big, working hard, and making things happen.  Craig has spent his career turning dreams into realities and will bring that same energy to building a Louisville that works for every family.

An attorney by training who went from Jefferson County Public Schools to Harvard Law School, Craig helped start and build a Louisville-based company, 21c Museum Hotels, which grew to more than 1,100 team members. 21c received international recognition and helped revive Main Street in Louisville and other urban neighborhoods across the country. Craig has also led other transformative, historic preservation projects that have driven Louisville’s downtown revitalization, including 111 Whiskey Row, which was nearly destroyed by fire. The desire to solve problems, no matter how great, will be at the core of Craig’s effort to build a stronger Louisville.

Craig has leadership experience enacting reforms for good government and transparency. As a member of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, Craig led the effort to hold the former University President accountable for inappropriate financial dealings. While on the University Board of Trustees, Craig also spearheaded a successful effort to stop a proposed 5% tuition increase on students.  Craig has also served as the Chairman of the March of Dimes’ March for Babies and on the boards of Metro United Way and the Louisville Jewish Community Center.

Recently fulfilling a childhood dream of stepping into the ring, Craig is a co-owner of the Louisville-based sports entertainment institution Ohio Valley Wrestling. 

 

Craig has been married to his wife, Rachel, for 21 years and they have two sons, Daniel and Benjamin (and one dog, River). Rachel is an educator who taught English as a Second Language at Wheatley Elementary School.

In his free time, when not attending events for his sons, Craig is an avid runner.

 





Issues that Matter

 To get big things done, we need big ideas that work for every neighborhood. Below are some of Craig’s plans to build a safer, stronger Louisville for everyone. 

A Safer, Stronger Louisville

On January 20, 2022, Craig released his plan to combat Louisville's public safety and crime crisis. Please click here to read Craig's plan, "All In: A Comprehensive & Effective Plan for a Safer, Stronger and Healthier Louisville."


A More Just Louisville

When Craig was bar mitzvahed at age 13, he read a passage from Deuteronomy 16:20 which began, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.”  Craig’s grandparents fled Germany due to the threat of the Holocaust and came to America seeking freedom, safety, and opportunity. With family and religious experiences like these, Craig has had a lifelong belief that every person should be treated with dignity and afforded opportunity.  Craig will work to create a more unified community where the pursuit of justice and equal opportunity is a mission, not an afterthought. He will:

  • Acknowledge and address the systemic racism that has always been part of our community and consider the racial justice impact on every decision Metro Government makes. 

  • Develop quality-of-life improvements necessary for safe and healthy neighborhoods, like community grocery stores and health facilities. 
  • Support the implementation of the West End Opportunity Partnership, a transformative Tax Increment Financing district controlled by a community-led and African American-led board of directors to re-invest hundreds of millions of dollars in West Louisville.
  • Protect homeowners from being priced out of their homes by enacting anti-displacement measures like property tax freezes.

  • Invest in minority-owned small businesses and historically neglected neighborhoods by working with the private sector to create a Black-owned bank and other dedicated lending programs with existing local banks.
  • Encourage further investment in Black-led foundations which promote health, housing, arts, and cultural opportunities in West Louisville to provide the same benefits which have improved other neighborhoods in our city for generations. 

  • Listen to citizens from all neighborhoods and backgrounds to help heal and unify our city and to rebuild trust between Metro Government and our citizens. 
Affordable Housing

Safe and affordable housing for all Louisville families is the foundation for successful and vibrant neighborhoods. Solving our current affordable housing crisis, while planning for the future, requires giving everyone a seat at the table: community leaders, lenders, builders, housing advocates, and our neighborhood planning commissions. As a collaborative leader who has developed and revitalized properties across the country, Craig will use his experience to:

  • Build at least 15,000 more affordable housing units throughout our city, with a focus on building homes near jobs and improved public transportation routes.
  • Renew our focus on home ownership in historically redlined communities, making it possible for families to build and pass on generational wealth.
  • Prioritize the development of new housing on lots that are currently vacant or abandoned. 
  • Increase no-income housing solutions to serve the homeless or unhoused and center them in close proximity to much needed support services.
  • Support dense and in-fill mixed-income housing to add more residents to Louisville’s urban core.
Stronger Schools

A prosperous future for Louisville requires a sustained commitment to education. Our schools face unprecedented challenges from a widening student achievement gap, a year spent out of the classroom, and not enough state funding. As Mayor, Craig will:

  • Create the Louisville Department of Education to enhance collaboration among our city’s pre-K to post-secondary education institutions, including Jefferson County Public Schools, JCTC, University of Louisville, Simmons College of Kentucky, Evolve 502, and other partners.
  • Build Community Schools and Libraries - facilities that educate our children and serve as community hubs with academic, recreational, and health care resources for entire neighborhoods. 
  • Utilize every resource of our Metro Government, along with private sector partnerships, to bring affordable high speed internet access to every citizen of Louisville. 

  • Work with our local delegation to Frankfort to support full state funding of our public schools.
  • Support and expand workforce development programs that provide lifelong learning, apprenticeship, and new skills training opportunities.
A Louisville that Works for Everyone
Craig’s vision for economic growth focuses on our homegrown talent and businesses. For too long, Louisville has bet its future on landing enormous investments from outside our community. While potentially transformative, we’ve all watched these companies choose other cities year after year. Louisville has what we need to succeed; we just need to believe it and support our own. As Mayor, Craig will:
 
  • Invest in Louisville entrepreneurs and local businesses so they have the resources they need to grow and create more good paying jobs
  • Revitalize downtown by repurposing surface parking lots and buildings evacuated due to the pandemic into housing, retail, entertainment, and other new commercial uses to create a more vibrant urban core with more public green space. 
  • Improve public transportation to create high density corridors of opportunity, with a focus on routes serving working families and their places of employment.
  • Expand the SummerWorks program year-round to provide our youth income and work experience.
  • Strengthen agency partnerships and expand programs in the Office for Globalization that make Louisville a welcoming city for new Americans and all ethnicities and cultures.
  • Attract new residents to Louisville who work remotely and who seek an affordable, high quality of life.
Greener City, Healthier Families

For years, Louisville’s elected leaders have talked about cleaner air, soil, and water for our community. It’s time for real action; Louisville needs more than incremental innovation. Craig has a bold vision for a healthier city that will:

  • Design transportation and commercial developments aimed at a carbon neutral city and improved traffic flow.
  • Prioritize housing and commercial developments that create walkable, bikeable, livable, green and safe neighborhoods. 
  • Improve our public parks, with a focus on historically neglected parks, and work with non-profit organizations to improve our public amenities and build new green spaces. 
  • Retrofit city facilities with solar technologies and turn urban brownfields into urban solar farms.
Transparency and Cooperation in Metro Government
Craig believes government is most effective when it is transparent and people listen and work together to solve common problems, even if they strongly disagree on the solution. As Louisville’s own Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Craig will not hide the government’s business, he will:

  • Start making meaningful change on Day One and work every day with a sense of urgency. Craig will not serve a third term and will advocate to change our state law to limit the Mayor to two terms. Eight years is enough time for any Mayor to get things done and new leadership is important for the city’s future.
  • Empower an inclusive administration of talented and diverse individuals who have public and private sector experiences and represent all areas of our city. Being a successful Mayor requires a strong team who speak their mind and get things done.
  • Improve relations with Metro Council to collaboratively work to improve our city and solve problems.
  • Convene community conversations, as Louisville approaches the 20th Anniversary of City-County merger, to make changes to our city government to facilitate a more prosperous and just city in the next 20 years and beyond.

Run With Craig

Craig wants to run for Mayor with you! Please sign up to run through your neighborhood with Craig. Check out the map below to see where he has already run. And, follow along on social media at #RunWithCraig

Sign Up to Run




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