Seeking Sister Wife star Marcus Epps has officially announced he is running for Mayor of Euclid, Ohio!
Marcus, who is currently a Euclid City Councilman, made the announcement on Saturday. “Councilman Marcus Epps has officially declared his candidacy for Mayor of Euclid, Ohio,” reads the post shared by @marcuseppsforeuclidohio on Instagram.
“Marcus is a family man who has a rich history here,” the announcement continues. “He was an activist who served in many capacities over the years, is an elected official here representing Ward 3 in Euclid today and is the BEST CHOICE FOR MAYOR IN 2023.”
Here is the full post, which includes a video montage of Marcus hard at work bettering Euclid:
This won’t be Marcus’s first time running for the office. He ran for Euclid Mayor in 2015 with the slogan, “Bring Euclid Back.” He wound up a distant third with just 17.41% of the votes. He announced plans to run for Mayor again in 2019, but that didn’t happen.
It will be interesting to see how the local media covers Marcus’s 2023 campaign given that he was on a reality show confirming that he is in a polygamous relationship with multiple wives. It will also be interesting to see if Marcus campaigns with both Taryn and India by his side.
Oh, and let’s not forget that Marcus has no fewer than ten children and was arrested for domestic violence!
In addition to these political issues, Marcus also has some other obstacles to overcome. We listed them in a previous post after Marcus announced earlier this year that he planned to run for re-election to the Euclid City Council, so I will share them again here. (NOTE: I have updated the amount of property taxes Marcus currently owes.)
RESIDENCY – Based on their Seeking Sister Wife appearance and their social media accounts, the Epps family spend a lot of their time living in Orlando, Florida. Euclid voters might not care for that fact. It’s not clear if the Epps children attend school in Florida or Ohio. It’s also unclear if the Eppses plan on moving back to Ohio after the recent eviction battle with their current Florida landlords.
HOUSING VIOLATIONS – Five months after Marcus and wife Taryn were tied to an unlicensed club shooting in Cleveland that resulted in the death of a young woman, a house belonging to Marcus caught fire. Five months after the house fire, police served a search warrant at the address.
“According to Euclid Fire Department Chief Chris Haddock, the search warrant was issued in connection with a house fire and housing code violations,” 19 News reported at the time. Marcus Epps was officially charged with multiple housing violations in January of last year.
UNPAID PROPERTY TAXES – In March of 2022, a Fox 8 I-Team “checked property tax records for every mayor and council member in Cuyahoga County, making up hundreds of elected officials.”
The investigation uncovered 16 elected officials who were behind on paying their taxes. “Of that group, we noticed Euclid Councilman Marcus Epps owing the most with more than $12,000.”
When reached for comment, Marcus brought up the house fire and described his family’s recent situation as a “struggle.”
More from the Fox 8 report:
But, county records show Epps has not paid any property taxes since 2019, long before the house fire. Epps insists he has made payments although the county tells us there’s no record of that.
“I’m saying we’ve made payments since 2019,” Epps said.
But when we asked for dates of those payments, he did not provide any.
MAY 28, 2023 – According to Cuyahoga County property tax records, a Euclid property belonging to Marcus and a woman named Latricia is still in arrears. The “current due” amount is listed as $17,528.95, with $16,523.81 of that being delinquent taxes and penalties. The property is the same one that caught fire.
#SeekingSisterWife Marcus Epps is no stranger to public controversy. He's an elected official with a political career that has been peppered with scandals including alleged tax evasion, a fire, and a murder at an illegal after-hours club in Cleveland!? https://t.co/VfTUYXMzAr
— Starcasm (@starcasm) June 14, 2022
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
