Clevelandurbannews.com and-Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.coml By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief: CLEVELAND, Ohio- The City Club of Cleveland will hold a virtual debate on Tuesday, June 22 with eight of the 13 11th congressional district congressional candidates for the Democratic primary for the special election of Aug. 3 to fill the seat left vacant in March when then congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge joined President Joe Biden's cabinet as secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
The special general election where the Democratic and Republican winner of the primary will square-off is Nov 2.
The online debate begins at 5:30 pm.
The livestream will be available beginning at 5:30 p.m. To watch the debate live online CLICK HERE.
A debate between the two Republican primary challengers was canceled.
This year's 11th congressional district candidates' debate by the City Club is being held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democrats debating at 5:30 pm are front-runners former Ohio senator Nina Turner and Cuyahoga County Councilwoman and County Democratic Party Chairwoman Shontel Brown, former Ohio senators Shirley Smith and Jeff Johnson, former state representative John E. Barnes Jr., Tariq K. Shabazz, Will Knight, and Dr. Seth Corey, a Cleveland Clinic physician and researcher at the Lerner College of Medicine.
Ohio's 11th congressional district includes most of Cleveland and several of its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County, a largely Black pocket of Akron, and a few staggering suburbs of Summit County.
It is one of two majority-minority congressional district's in Ohio that is specifically protected under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Cuyahoga County is a Democratic stronghold and is a 29 percent Black county.
It is the second largest of Ohio's 88 counties, behind Franklin County, which includes the city of Columbus, the state capital and Ohio's largest city.
The last three congresspersons who have represented Ohio's 11th congressional district have been Black Democrats, namely former congressman the late Louis Stokes, who is Ohio's first Black congressperson, the late Stephanie Tubbs -Jones, who succeeded Stokes, and Fudge, who followed Tubbs-Jones into office and served 12 years in Congress before accepting Biden's invitation earlier this year to lead HUD.
Also dubbed "America's Citdal of Free Speech," the City Club of Cleveland is a cozy non-partisan debate club in downtown Cleveland that was founded in 1912.
It traditionally uses a luncheon format with a question and answer session with its speakers and guests but sometimes branches out to hosts forums in larger places like the convention center where former president Barack Obama spoke in 2015, a speech that came during his second term in office and one that highlighted his economic policies.
Since its founding the renowned City Club has hosted an array of public policy issues and notable people, including mayoral and gubernatorial candidates, and other sitting U.S. presidents, including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
Other prominent speakers include former archbishop Desmond Tutu, Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks, Jimmy Hoffa, the late U.S. senator Robert Kennedy, and the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who would not agree to his speech being publicized.
Clevelandurbannews.com and-Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL
