CPT • Fudge directs pushy gavel to get — at most — a costly endorsement wash

 Cuyahoga Politics Today

Fudge involvement in judicial endorsement process likely to carry stiff price for dubious gain

The Cuyahoga County Democratic Party’s Executive Committee met this past Saturday at Euclid High School amid high drama and intrigue.

Let’s say a couple of things right up front. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge imposed her will to secure a victory at the meeting, albeit a short term, narrow and costly one. She got one of her endorsed candidates, Andrea Nelson Moore, endorsed by the party leaders, an unlikely outcome but for Fudge’s intervention.

As we have been discussing here, here, here and here this past week, Democrats have a poor track record when it comes to supporting qualified candidates of color for office in majority white districts. It is highly unlikely that the Congresswoman’s heavy hand is going to impact that dismal record favorably. In fact, in the short term, she may have made it worse.

Here’s why.

Of the handful of black and Hispanic candidates seeking judgeships in one of the coveted “open” slots (i.e., no incumbent in the race), those who theoretically started with the best chance were Moore and Deborah Turner, each a familiar ballot names. But from the beginning the African American candidate with the inside track has been Karrie Howard, the ex-Marine and former federal prosecutor.

Howard started earliest, has worked the hardest and smartest, been the most strategic, and would seem to have the most money, in part because he hasn’t run recent exhaustive races, as have Turner and Moore. From the evidence he seems also to have been the only African American candidate who worked countywide. As a result, even after the scorched earth tactic Fudge put in place the night before, Howard fell only a couple of voters shy of securing the party endorsement. In that sense, he was a Fudge casualty, deprived of a significant advantage he had labored to win for more than a year.

But what is potentially worse for the community is that Howard’s campaign could now attract new opponents drawn by the turmoil that Fudge has created. Absent her involvement, the black community was going to have at least one endorsed Democratic judicial candidate – Howard – for an open seat. With her intrusion, there is still one – Moore – who may pay a price in the primary for the bare-knuckle way it was achieved.

Moreover, the Fudge camp cannot have endeared itself to the collateral damage suffered by incumbent State Sen. Kenny Yuko, D-25 and judicial candidate Emily Hagan, each of whom failed to garner what would normally have been a routine endorsement, but for the overt racial pall the Congresswoman introduced into the proceedings.

Democrats nationally have a lot to sort out as their separate wings do battle in the wake of what would seem to both interparty and intra-party realignment in this fluid political turmoil. Republicans are doing the same thing internally as they grapple with whether Republicanism going forward will mean only white nationalism.

The judicial endorsements were not the only ones of consequence at the recent Dems. In addition to the Yuko race, notable results included Marty Sweeney’s eyebrow-raising lopsided victory over Nickie Antonio in a battle of state reps looking to be the Dem nominee for State Senate in District 23; Lakewood councilman Tom Bullock handily defeated former State Rep. Mike Skindell in their endorsement battle over in District 13.

State Sen. Sandra Williams, D-21 easily bested the Fudge-supported challenge of former Cleveland councilman Jeff Johnson.

Also coming away with endorsements in contested primaries were state rep. hopefuls Terrence Upchurch [District 10] and Juanita Brent [District 12].

We leave for a future post the comments of party chair Brown, who decried the “broken” judicial endorsement process. You can see a portion of her statement here.

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Single Payer Healthcare

US Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is leading a town hall meeting tonight on Medicare for All. The program is expected to look at the: 1. current state of health care in the US; 2. possible economic impacts of single-payer system; and, 3. how universal health care works in other countries.

The event will be live-streamed by a number of online outlets, including NowThis, ATTN, and The Young Turks, in addition to Sanders’ own social media accounts.

The town hall is set to run from 7-8:30PM tonight.

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#MeTOO

Laverne Gore and Jack Boyle co-host one of the few local talk shows that we know about that seek to discuss important public issues. Tonight, their “Race Relations in America” program will discuss the #MeToo movement.

The program airs Tuesdays from 6-7PM on WERE/1490 AM.

We have not yet had a chance to listen to this show but we’d love to know what its listeners think of it. Also, if there are other locally-produced substantive programs out there dealing with the intersection of race, class, and/or culture issues, let us know at rta AT theRealDealPress.com.

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