Governing Magazine has named Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther as one of its seven 2025 Public Officials of the Year honorees.
The national publication praised Ginther in its Fall 2025 issue for supporting the metropolitan area’s regional growth in an article painting a bleak picture of Columbus. Governing Magazine said Central Ohio is “completely flat,” ‘humid year-round” and lacks mountains, beaches or oceans but jobs have supported population growth unheard of in today’s Midwest.
Governing Magazine pointed to the Columbus region’s strong public-private partnerships as a hallmark of its success.
“It’s built into our culture, our way of doing things, our traditions and our values,” Ginther told Governing Magazine. “The question isn’t whether public-private partnerships are a good idea. It’s what’s next and what else can we do.”
Ginther made a list on Oct. 1 that includes mostly state-level officials, including Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the late Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, a Democrat who was killed in June in what officials have called a “politically motivated assassination.”
Other officials who made the list are:
According to Governing Magazine, these state and local officials, Democrats and Republicans, “have brought about significant changes to their communities.”
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Mayor Ginther recognized as an official of the year by national publication
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
