Big money and endorsements shaping a two-way Democratic race in gerrymandered 11th District – Akron Beacon Journal

Early voting in the open primary for Ohio's 11th congressional district began this week in Summit and Cuyahoga counties.

The partisan contests, at least on the Democratic side, will likely determine the winner of the general election in this gerrymandered district that leans far to the left. In the 2020 general election, Rep. Marcia Fudge beat her Republican opponent with more than 80% of the vote. No candidate from either party in any of Ohio's 16 congressional districts won by as much.

After 13 years serving the minority-majority district, Fudge left Congress this year to become Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, prompting Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to schedule a special election that's drawn national attention and money.

But the same rules that almost guarantee Democrats retain Fudge's seat in the fall do not apply in this special primary especially with 13 Democrats vying for the party nomination.

"In a multi-candidate race, it's important to be everywhere in the district, because a candidate is not going to win with a majority of the votes," said Dave Cohen,professor of political science and interim director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at theUniversity of Akron. "A candidate is going to win with just a plurality."

That means the winner of the Aug. 3 Democratic primary, a non-incumbent who will still have a sizable advantage over either of the Republicans battling for a spot on the Nov. 2 ballot, could walk away with less than half the votes. That, Cohen said, elevates the importance of campaigning everywhere, even in the portions of the districtthat stretch south along the I-77 corridor into West Akron.

"Being everywhere in the district, especially in a place like Akron where you have a lot of concentrated votes, its an advantage if youre the only campaign out there organizing," said Cohen. "One of the big complaints about the way the 11th district is composed and about Marcia Fudges representation in the district is that often times Akron was ignored."

In Fudge's reelection last year, 68,771 Democrats from Cuyahoga County and 9,025 from Summit County voted in the primary. Summit County Democrats accounted for 12% of voters in the primary and 14% in the general election.

Fundraising totals and polling point to a two-woman race. Shontel Brown, a councilwoman and party chair in Cuyahoga County, has gobbled up endorsements from party establishment figures, including Hillary Clinton, while former state Senator Nina Turner leads the left wing of the party with the backing of progressives, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Some political pundits have framed the race as a look back at the 2016 presidential primary. But the numbers in this congressional race strongly favor one candidate over the other.

As of the first quarter fundraising reports released in April, Turner had raised about $2.2 million to Brown's $680,000. Turner's campaign said last week that it raised another $930,000 in June alone. Brown's campaign, while not giving a monthly total, touted $162,808 in donations raised 24 hours after receiving a late-June endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn. The South Carolina Democrat helped President Joe Biden pull ahead with his endorsement in the 2020 presidential primary.

The lion's share of Turner's early fundraising support came from California donors (2.2 times what she raised from Ohio donors, according to the Federal Election Commission) as progressives across the nation look to Ohio's special election to swing the political pendulum within the Democratic Party. Brown raised more from Ohio donors than anywhere else, and 13.4 times more than she raised from California donors, according to the early FEC reporting.

Regardless of where it's coming from, spending in the Ohio race is shaping up to be the most of any special election for Congress in 2021, outpacing spending in earlier races in Texas and New Mexico, according to reporting by Politico. That's of note becauseOhio's race, unlike the contests in New Mexico and Texas, is not considered to be competitive this fall. All the attention, and money, is on the primary.

Turner's campaign released a poll June 1 that showed her with about 50% support among primary voters. The next candidate in the poll her campaign commissioned had 15% support.

Former Ohio Rep. Bryan Flannery of Bath Township was in third place in fundraising before dropping out of the race, which now has no candidate from Summit County.

Turner lives in Cleveland. She's endorsed by Akron Council Members Tara Samples (who worked with Turner on the Sanders presidential campaigns), Shammas Malik and Phil Lombardi, as well as the Black Elected Officials of Summit County. She's also spent more time campaigning in Akron, where Mayor Dan Horrigan, Council President Margo Sommerville, Vice President Jeff Fusco, At-Large Member Ginger Baylor and several Black clergy have endorsed Brown, who lives in Warrensville Heights.

"I think Shontel Brown, just recently, has been active in Akron. But Turners been here for months," Cohen told the Beacon Journal last week. "If youre a resident of West Akron and youve been ignored for a decade by the incumbent member of Congress and all of the sudden you have a candidate thats running for that district that pays attention, thats impactful.

"And so, at least in terms of this campaign, the Turner folks have actively sought votes in Akron," he said.

Absentee voting began Tuesday. The ballots can be requested no less than three days before the election and must be postmarked by the day before the election (or delivered in person before the polls close on Election Day). Instructions on absentee balloting and forms to request an absentee ballot can be downloaded athttps://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/how-to-request-your-absentee-ballot/ or by calling the Summit County Board of Elections at 330-643-5422.

These 13 Democrats and two Republicans are running in the Aug. 3 primary for a chance to represent Ohio's 11th district in Congress. If available, links to campaign websites or social media accounts are provided.

Democrats

Martin Alexander

John E. Barnes Jr., https://www.votebarnes.com/

James Jerome Bell, https://bellinternational.weebly.com/about.html

Shontel Brown, https://shontelbrown.com/meet-shontel/

Seth J. Corey, https://twitter.com/sethcorey?lang=en

Jeff Johnson, https://jeffjohnsonforcongress.com/

Will Knight, https://www.willknightforcongress.com/about

Pamela M. Pinkney, https://www.facebook.com/Rev-Pamela-M-Pinkney-Butts-for-President-ess-110242030312010/

Isaac Powell,

Lateek Shabazz, https://voteshabazz.com/

Tariq Shabazz, https://www.shabazzforcongress.com/