Pictured is Nina Turner
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By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief
CLEVELAND, OHIO – What will former Ohio senator Nina Turner do next after losing Tuesday's special Democratic primary election to Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown, a heated election relative to the congressional seat in Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district that was vacated in March by former congresswoman Marca L. Fudge, now the U.S. secretary of housing and urban devekopment with President Joe Biden's administration?
The establishment-backed candidate and Fudge's protege, Brown handily defeated all 12 of her Democratic opponents, including the well-financed Turner, and will face Republican Lavern Gore for a Nov. 2 general election, an election that favors the Democratic candidate in the highly Democratic Cuyahoga County, the second largest of Ohio's 88 counties behind Franklin county, which includes the capital city of Columbus.
But Turner, who lost a race for secretary of state in 2014 and served as the co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign for president last year, compiled a $5.6 million campaign war chest in Ohio's congressional race and lost by only six points, 46 percent to Brown's 50 percent and less that 5,000 votes, which keeps her name mentioned in political circles as the 2022 gubernatorial and other statewide races near as well as the fight to replace U.S. Sen Rob Portman who is not seeking reelection next year.
Asked how Turner is doing since Tuesday's election, her deputy campaign manager, Kara Turrentine, said during a post election interview that "Nina is doing just fine, she is still the same Nina Turner. She will continue to fight for the poor, the working poor and the barely middle class. This was never about Nina Turner, it is about the people. "
On the issue of whether Turner will run for any office in 2022, Turrentine said "we have not had that conversation though people continue to recognize Nina Turner's broader appeal and her unique ability to lead."
Turner made it clear during her concession speech Tuesday night that she is will be hanging around politically.
"Tonight, our justice journey continues," said Turner to applause from her supporters as she conceded the race to Brown at the Lanes Bowling Alley in Maple Hts Tuesday night. "And I am proud to continue that journey with each and every one of you. We will continue this journey until every working person earns a living wage, including passing a $15.00 minimum wage. We will continue this journey until every person has health care as a right and not a privilege."
All of Ohio's non-judicial statewide offices, which are currently held by Republicans. are open for grabs next year, including the offices of governor, auditor, treasurer, secretary of state, and attorney general. And since Sen Portman, a Republican, has announced that he is retiring and will not seek reelection to his seat next year U.S. Senate wannabes are lining up in hopes of replacing him in Washington.
Current Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has a $6.6 million campaign war chest on hand as he seeks reelection, including $4 million he has loaned his campaign, and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley has some $1.4 million, more than any Democrat in the race.
The race for Portman's U.S. senate seat is anybody's game as the current candidates running in the Republican primary include former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken, Former State Treasurer Josh Mandel, Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons, and Cincinnati venture capitalist and author J.D. Vance.
Congressman Tim Ryan, from the Youngstown area, is the only high profile Democratic challenger so far.
Also up for grabs is a powerful county executive seat currently held by Democrat Armond Budish, who may or may not seek a third term amid indictments of members of his administration, the former county jail and supervisors, several jail guards, and a host of others.
This is coupled with two FBI raids on his downtown headquarters office in the last three years and a still pending FBI investigation centered around some 12 or more deaths in the county jail in the last three years, many of them questionable.
One of two of Ohio's 16 congressional districts crafted under the redistricting provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, Ohio's 11th congressional district includes most of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County and a majority Black pocket of Akron and staggering sections of Akron's Summit County suburbs.
And while the congressperson who represents Ohio' 11th congressional district is an important and powerful position the top jobs, some of them paying upwards of $200,000 annually, are under the county executive, and likewise, Ohio's governor.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. 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 NEWS.
By Kathy Wray Coleman. Coleman is a former public school biology teacher and a Black political and investigative reporter who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio
