EUCLID, Ohio – Shirley Smith, a former state senator from Ohio who lost a crowded Democratic primary last year for the 11th congressional district seat now held by Democratic Congresswoman Shontel Brown, has suspended her campaign for Cuyahoga County executive and is throwing her support behind former University Circle Inc president Chris Ronayne, whom 92 percent of the executive committee of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party voted to endorse last week over Smith and candidate Tariq Shabazz.

The deadline for filing petitions with the county board of elections to possibly get on the ballot is Feb 2. Current two-term county executive Armond Budish, also a former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, is not running for reelection for another four-year term after a turbulent last three years in office plagued with more than 10 inmate deaths in the troubled county jail and an ongoing FBI investigation of his administration.

“I know Chris will do a good job and work towards rebuilding this county inside out, and I will do everything I can to support him in his endeavors,” Smith said in a statement. She told editor Kathy Wray Coleman of clevelandurbannews.com and kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com in a previous one-on-one interview that she initially decided to run because "the county needs a qualified woman as county executive."

Though Smith garnered less than four percent of the vote by executive committee members during last week's endorsement process that she skipped, and Shabazz even less, she was Ronayne's biggest opponent leading up to the primary election, and his biggest problem. That has obviously changed. She has said on more than one occasion that she simply did not have the resources to lodge an effective primary election campaign against the popular Ronanye, who is White and has never held public office.

The likely winner of the May 3 Democratic primary, Ronanye will likely face Lee Weingart, a Republican and former county commissioner, for the Nov 8 general election

A resident of suburban South Euclid who lived in the city of Cleveland for most of her political career, including when she was a state lawmaker, Smith is the third high profile Black to withdraw from the race in the past month behind Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell and Warrensville Heights Mayor Brad Sellers. Blackwell, like Smith, said that she too lacked the resources to likely win over Roynane, and Sellers abruptly quit the race amid criticism escalated by a scathing Plain Dealer Newspaper article that detailed his alleged mishandling of tax abatement funds for homeowners as mayor of Warrensville Heights, a Black Cleveland suburb.

Smith's exit from the race gives Ronayne all but a free ride into the powerful county executive office and will save him money he can put towards the general election as Shabazz, an unsuccessful candidate last year for Congress like Smith, and others, is a relatively obscure Democratic primary candidate.

Smith served as a member of the Ohio Senate  from 2007 to 2014. Previously, she was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. She backed Budish' opponent when Budish first won as county executive via the 2014 general election, after he beat her and a few other candidates that year in the Democratic primary, Smith coming in third place, and after running a competitive race. She was later appointed by then governor John Kasich, a former presidential candidate who is now a CNN commentator, to the state parole board for five years, the two of them teaming up previously and when she was an Ohio senator to get unprecedented criminal justice reform legislation passed relative to expunging criminal records.

A Democratic stronghold, Cuyahoga County, with Cleveland its largest city, has a population of roughly 1.2 million people and is the second largest of Ohio's 88 counties, behind Franklin County, which includes the capital city of Columbus . It is governed by a county executive, Budish, and an 11-member county council, a  county governance structure that took effect in 2011 after voters scrapped the three county commissioners and the elected offices of the county sheriff, auditor, treasurer, and clerk of courts.

Those offices, and all but the judges and county prosecutor, which is now Mike O'Malley, are appointed positions under the purview of the county executive, though county council has some leeway as to the selection of the county sheriff pursuant to a subsequent charter amendment that voters also approved.

Black leaders, led by the NAACP, then county  commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, and former 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, who was a congresswoman at the time and is now secretary of housing and urban development with the President Joe Biden administration, opposed the change in county governance, arguing that it would dilute Black leadership, though county voters approved it by a two-to-one margin.

The county's second county executive behind former county executive Ed FitzGerald, Budish is Jewish, and four of the county councilpersons are Black, including county council president Pernel Jones, a Black Democrat. The other three Blacks on county council, who, like Jones, are also Democrats, are Meredith Turner of Shaker Heights, Yvonne Conwell of Cleveland, and Cheryl Stephens. a former Cleveland Heights mayor and candidate for lieutenant governor this year on the ticket of Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Dayton mayor Nan Whaley.

clevelandurbannews.com and kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog 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 NEWS.

Dorothy Walwyn, Brother Robert "Bob" Saffold, who is the stepfather of U.S. HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, Activist Kathy Wray Coleman of Imperial Women Coalition, Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell, and Activist Alfred Porter Jr. of Black on Black Crime at the championship boxing extravaganza in Warren, Ohio hosted by Don King Productions on  Sat., Jan 29, 2022 (Right photo by Louie Moore). Also pictured is Cleveland native and legendary boxing promoter Don King clevelandurbannews.com and kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief. Coleman is a former public school biology teacher and a seasoned Black political. legal and investigative reporter who trained as a reporter at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio for 17 years.

WARREN, Ohio - WBA Heavyweight Champion Trevor Bryan and WBC Crusierweight Champion Ilunga Makabu defended their respective titles Saturday and participated in the two featured events of a six-championship fight card hosted on Sat, Jan 29  by legendary boxing promoter and Call and Post Publisher Don King and Don King Productions at the W.D. Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio, a  city 60 miles southeast of Cleveland. Tickets for the boxing extravaganza that was streamed via pay-per view for $59 ranged from $83 for regular seating to $595 for ringside seats.

In the first of the two featured bouts Bryan, an undefeated WBA world heavyweight champion since 2021, defeated Jonathan Guidry, previously undefeated, to take the split decision at the end of a 12-round fight. That fight continually brought the crowd to its feet, including when Brant knocked Guidry to his feet at the end of the 12th round.

The other main event was also a closely watched fight as Makabu, the reigning WBC cruiserweight champion, defeated Thabiso Mchunu by split decision and now could be set up to defend his title against Canelo Alvarez in May.

By distinction, Tyson Fury, however, is the current WBC heavy wight boxing champion of the world and was not among those boxing Saturday night in Warren.

“WBA” is an acronym for the “World Boxing Association” while the “WBC” is the short form for the “World Boxing Council,"  Both organizations are affiliated with boxing as a sport and conduct activities that sanction official matches between boxing fighters and, at the same time, award boxing titles in different weight categories. Boxing greats like Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield were world championship boxers who won WBC titles during their heydays.

A multimillionaire, King, 90 and a Cleveland native, took to stage to welcome the crowd along side of an entree of people, including his daughter, Deborah King, his nephew, the Rev Dale Edwards, who manages the Call and Post, and Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell, who also spoke. The talented Tina Farmer, the idol for Cleveland Fox8 News, which held a local competition that mirrored American Idol, sang the National Anthem before the event got underway.

King said he was elated to bring championship boxing to the Cleveland area and Northeast, Ohio and  that a major purpose of the gathering was so that people could "enjoy ourselves again and not be ruined by COVID."

It was a packed night of boxing that featured six bouts with championships at issue as boxing fans from Warren, Canton, Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and other parts of Ohio, and from places like Pittsburgh and as far away as Las Vegas came out, as did some mainstream media, including the the Daily Mail in London, England.

Rev Edwards, the executive director and editor of the Call and Post, a Black Cleveland weekly that King has owned and operated since 1998, distributed some complimentary tickets to some Cleveland activists, children and those who could not afford to attend.

"We had a fabulous time," said Black on Black Crime president Alfred Porter Jr. of Cleveland, who had upfront floor tickets." And we thank Don King and Rev Edwards for giving back to the community."

Latisha Powell of Cleveland said she was grieving over her son who died last year after being shot in his home by a suspect who remains at large and has yet to be identified by police when an activist invited her to the event with complimentary tickets from King. "

It really made my day and my family went with me, including my father, a Don King fan." Powell said. "Thank you Mr. King."

City officials of Warren thanked King for spotlighting the city and dubbed the day "Don King Day."

While some of the attendees were dressed in an ordinary fashion, others, mainly Black people, were dressed to the nines in mink coats, and other furs, both men and women alike.

The first fight of the night featured Tre’Sean Wiggins and Cody Wilson, Wiggins knocking out Wilson by TKO in the third round  to win the North American Boxing Associated welterweight title.

Dacarree Scott earned the NABA  the gold heavyweight  after he defeated Ahmed Hefny by split decision, Scott a late replacement for Alonzo Butler.

Johnnie Langston took the NABA cruiserweight championship by TKO after knocking down Nick Kisner three times in the fourth round, and Michael Moore of Northeast Ohio  won a unanimous decision against Anthony Lenk to win the final fight of the night, But Moore could not claim the NABA middleweight title due to wight constraints as he missed the four pounds needed to qualify.

clevelandurbannews.com and kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog 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 NEWS.