Will the corporate Democratic Party soon have to eat their half bowl of sh**?
A fierce race over a vacant House seat is shaping up to be a true headache for Nancy Pelosi and the DNC as a progressive challenger climbs into the drivers seat in the Buckeye State.
It wasn’t supposed to be a real contest. The Cleveland-Akron area 11th Congressional District of Ohio and its antecedents have been occupied by Democrats since 1923, and since 1969 by a member of the area’s black community starting with Louis Stokes. The last occupant was current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Marcia Fudge, a machine politician who advanced into the position originally because she had worked in the office of predecessor Stephanie Tubbs Jones when she was public prosecutor for Cuyahoga County. But she had moved on to a higher office with less accountability.
The Favourite: Climbing a well worn ladder
Seeking to replace Fudge for the coveted Democratic nomination to become the presumptive winner of the special election runoff in November were a large field of local Democrats that had held previous local or state office. The party’s favourite is county council member and county party chair Shontel Brown, but rather than the clear path to DC that Fudge received she is dealing with twelve challengers, many of them with longer resumes than hers. Brown has a number of advantages, among them being one of the younger candidates and hailing from the government of Warrensville Heights, Fudge’s home city where she was mayor. In May she was sighted dining with Fudge and a number of other local politicians at a restaurant in the small suburb on Cleveland’s south-east border. The meal came on the heels of a complaint against Fudge for violating the Hatch Act that prohibits executive appointees from engaging in political activity while working in their official capacity. Fudge had publicly endorsed two Democratic US Senate candidates during a press conference at HUD on May 14. Fudge has not officially endorsed a candidate in the Ohio 11th race, largely because it could potentially be a further violation of the same law.
The Challenger: Left hook at the machine
Of all the competitor’s Brown’s road is obstructed most by a nationally known activist and former state senator, Nina Turner of Cleveland. In 2016 Turner became one of the most prominent backers of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Despite having no national profile, Turner attracted attention for her ability to stir up the activist base as a surrogate and one of the few black elected officials to join Sanders. The majority of minority federal and state level officials remained loyal to the establishment candidate Hillary Clinton, but few of them possessed the passionate rhetorical delivery that Turner had.
In the wake of the 2016 primary Turner was one of a handful of Bernie supporters that adamantly refused to endorse Clinton as the nominee. Despite this she was named the president of Sanders’ activist political group Our Revolution, and remained a staunch supporter of the Vermont senator during his 2020 primary campaign. In December when Fudge was nominated to HUD Turner immediately began organizing her own candidacy.
Anybody but Nina?
The Turner candidacy set off alarms among Democrats at the national level. She has drawn attention since 2016 for her connection not just to Sanders but to other radical left organizations such as the Gravel Institute and Democratic Socialists of America. In 2017 she worked with the Real News Network* hosting a sit-down interview style show. At the same time she was linked to the effort by progressives to seize control of the Democratic Party from within through PACs such as Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress.
Mainstream Democrats have ample reason to shrink from embracing Turner. She has fought uncompromising campaigns for progressive policies like Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage and the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. All of these positions, while certainly popular among activist Democrats, are typically opposed by the party’s elected officials once in power. But more worrying for the establishment is her propensity for making statements that attack them and their figures. In 2016 when she flipped from Clinton to Sanders Turner became instantly the darling of hardcore leftists like Amy Goodman. In the wake of that election a common scapegoat for the defeat of the former Secretary of State - besides of course Russia - was the so-called disloyalty of “Bernie Bros”. Turner has stridently defended against this whipping boy designation toward the left-wing of the party by corporate liberal media in public appearances.
One statement that has earned her the unending contempt of the corporate Democrats however was unambiguous and clearly a remark that showed that she could go on offense. In July 2020 Turner was quoted by The Atlantic describing asking Americans to vote for Joe Biden: “It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of shit in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still shit.” Despite attempts to confront her on it, commentators like MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross failed to get Turner to apologize for the comment even after the election.
Since Turner’s candidacy was announced, much of the 2021 Special Election campaign has been spent on marshalling voters against her. While Brown is the establishment favourite, other opponents include two former Ohio state legislatures John E. Brown, Jr. and Shirley Smith as well as some relative unknowns. This means that not only is there a name recognition issue for Shontel Brown, but she is contending with several other smaller campaigns that threaten to split the “non-Nina Turner” vote. Brown also has to contend with the fact that besides her position at the top of the county party there is little else that she can cite as a reason to vote for her besides her loyalty to the national “Biden-Harris agenda”.
PACing all that cash in
A central area where progressive and centrist Democrats split is over campaign financing. Since the Citizens United v. FEC (2010) ruling by the Supreme Court, much of the Democratic Party decided that rather than fight to end the influence of corporate money on elections through Super PACs they would instead embrace the tactic to the fullest. Since then pro-Democrat Super PACs have spent close to the same amount of money as pro-Republicans on elections, while their side enjoys overwhelming advantages among media groups. Turner and the Justice Democrats had since their formation eschewed the Super PAC funding option, maintaining that it is the primary conduit for big money interests to disproportionately influence politics and politicians. But in 2020 the Justice Democrats opened their own Super PAC with little fanfare. Turner also receives support from independent creators such as the group that created her “I’m mad” ad.
On Shontel Brown’s side another Super PAC has stepped in to fight Turner’s candidacy, the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI)**. The majority of DMFI’s materials have nothing to do with Turner’s scathing criticism of Israel, but rather her disloyalty to the Biden-Harris agenda. In one such thirty second spot they touted Brown as the first black woman to head the county party and her loyalty to the new president. Other than that there were no accomplishments or policy positions to promote.
Much of the support for Brown in the field does have to do with her record regarding Israel and likely role in expanding “the Squad”. For example local lecturer Rabbi Pinchas Landis*** released a personal video calling for the Jewish community and other pro-Israel voters to support Brown, while focusing mostly on Turner’s record. A good question for DMFI would be whether they would be willing to support Turner should she win the primary as they did when noted anti-Israel US Senate candidate Raphael Warnock did in Georgia last year. DMFI then released a 30 second ad pairing him with fellow candidate Jon Ossoff and portraying him falsely as a supporter of Israel, causing progressives to rage against him as a traitor. Will the DFMI come out in 2022 in support of Warnock if he faces a staunchly pro-Israel GOP candidate like Herschel Walker, whose son is a critic of homophobia among Palestinians?
The T Train Unstoppable?
The campaign efforts by DMFI and likeminded individuals have failed to derail the Turner campaign. An endorsement by Hillary Clinton in June of Shontel Brown ironically backfired by leading to a windfall of fundraising donations for Nina Turner. Still July opinion polls have shown that Turner’s lead in the race is narrowing with Brown catching up. Is this a sign that the campaign ads are working?
My impression is otherwise. It is difficult to gauge which candidate has the edge when driving around the district as both Brown and Turner - as well as many other candidates - have strong support as exhibited by yard signs. However, the focus on portraying Turner as the anti-Biden candidate could backfire in unforeseen ways. In 2020 over there were over 200,000 votes for Donald Trump in Cuyahoga County, or 32% of the total. In neighbouring Summit County, the other area within the district, there were over 120,000 votes for Trump, or 44%. Many of those voters could interpret Turner’s tensions with Biden as a reason to vote for her in the Democratic primary as a statement.
DMFI has also been willing to use blatant lies about Turner in their ads, such as the false statement that she opposes Medicare for All and a $15 minimum wage because she voted against the 2020 Democratic Party platform as a convention delegate. The reality is that she voted against the platform because it did NOT contain either policy, as the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel pointed out on July 12.
One tactic that could have been used against Turner would be to highlight how her own campaign is enjoying the backing of a number of Super PACs such as Working Family’s and Democratic Action. She is also getting helping donations from major union PACs such as the SEIU and Amalgamated Transit Union. She and Brown have clashed over who is the “dark money” candidate based on differing concepts of what PACs fit that definition. A local city councilman has also come out saying that Brown misleadingly included him on an endorsement list and in turn decided to support Turner. Another from Brown’s home community of Warrensville Heights has switched his support from her to Turner in the last week.
The primary for this race is on August 2, and surprisingly many state and national Democratic figures and movements have lined up not with Brown but rather with Turner such as Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson, MoveOn.org, and former Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper. She also won the endorsement of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and even some mainstream Democrats like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and CNN contributor and former South Carolina legislator Bakari Sellers. These names are by no means stalwarts of the radical wing of the party. With so much money and effort being spent on a safe Democratic race, a Turner victory could mean more than just getting one more member of the Squad. It also may signify that the party establishment led by the Bidens and Clintons have fallen far enough that not even their own core voters believe them.
Notes:
The author, while a resident of the district, has no intentions to vote in the August 2 primary for any candidate of either party.
*The Real News is a far-left Baltimore-based news organization with long standing ties to the government of Venezuela. See my article here.
**If you live in the 11th District as I do, DMFI has probably already filled your TV set or postal mailbox with their anti-Turner ads.
***The author personally knows Rabbi Landis and has attended his non-political events.