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WASHINGTON — Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb will be the next head of the Democratic Mayors Association, succeeding Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.
His tenure kicks off with the Democratic Party on the defensive and Republicans just days away from holding a governing trifecta in Washington, with control of the White House, House and Senate. In November, the election results showed longtime Democratic strength eroding in a number of major metro areas.
In an interview with NBC News, Bibb laid out his vision for Democrats during the Trump administration, emphasizing that the parties needed to work together on priorities.
Bibb said he would work with the GOP “if I believe it’s going to help the residents I was elected to serve.”
“That needs to be how we govern in this country,” he said. “If we continue to stay mired in a political purity test on both sides of the aisle, nothing will get done.”
Bibb’s new position was first reported by ABC News.
When reflecting on the results of the 2024 elections, Bibb said that Democrats need to be more aggressive in talking about public safety.
“I think one of the frustrations that I saw in the election last year was the fact that we weren’t more aggressive as a party talking about the significant successes and wins we had around addressing public safety,” Bibb said, pointing to homicide rates in the Cleveland decreasing and the city increasing pay for police officers.
And Bibb said that he would “absolutely” be willing to meet with the Trump administration on any issue.
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to attempt to roll out new tax policies, potentially grouping a slew of priorities into one bill. Bibb said that he would “love to meet with the incoming HUD Secretary,” Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance about “how we can leverage his tax bill to give cities more financial resources through public-private partnerships or tax credits to address our housing prices.”
“My message to mayors and Democratic mayors, especially, across the country is let’s defend our values, protect our interests, and advocate for what we need as mayors to get the job done,” Bibb said. “Because I don’t have the luxury of not working with this president, because Clevelanders are expecting me to still deliver and get results.”
The message echoes what a number of Democratic governors have been saying about Trump, though others have adopted a more confrontational posture.
The first-term Cleveland mayor also laid out the importance of his party doing “some more listening” and emphasized mayors needing to be on the frontlines of “rebuilding the Democratic party.”
“As mayors, we don’t have the luxury of passing the buck to the next Congress or legislative session,” Bibb said. “Our residents, regardless of race, class, color, creed or political party, just want results.”
Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.
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