Marcia Fudge sticks nose under local endorsement process tent

It would be hard to imagine a more ill-conceived and ineptly concealed private maneuver than what Cleveland area Congresswoman Marcia Fudge unveiled last night during a telephone conference that was leaked before it was over.

Apparently intent on leaving no rock unturned in a last-ditch effort to secure the endorsement of the county Democratic Party for two judicial candidates whom she has personally endorsed, Fudge personally conducted the telephone meeting with several east side elected officials, party leaders, and political activists.

There were close to 20 people on the conference call, which lasted only about 15 minutes. Fudge was calling from Washington DC, where Congress was in session.

Multiple sources speaking on condition of anonymity said the Congresswoman advanced a scorched earth policy: if the Party’s executive committee refuses to endorse Andrea Nelson Moore and Deborah M. Turner, Fudge wants her allies to push for a no endorsement policy in all 2018 races, including other judicial races as well as county and state legislative contests.

What has people most upset about the meeting is that party chair Shontel Brown took an active part in the strategy session. Brown, who represents District 10 in County Council, is a Fudge protégé. She became party chair last summer amidst whispers that she lacked the sophistication and experience to handle the job, and that the powers behind the throne would be some combination of Fudge, Cleveland City Council president Kevin Kelley, and one or two others.

Brown’s active and open participation in an effort to help Turner and Moore means of course, that the party chair was scheming against their opponents, including Ashley Kilbane, who is running for the nomination in one judicial primary race against Moore; and Karrie Howard, who is vying for nomination to the same open seat as Turner and Mickey Mottl. Howard and Kilbane received the most votes in their respective races at last week’s meeting of city and ward leaders from across the county.

Fudge’s efforts to impose her will on the endorsement process is likely to produce strong and perhaps chaotic pushback at today’s executive committee meeting, where senior party leaders decide on endorsements for the May 8 primary in some two to three dozen judicial, legislative, and state races. The meeting is scheduled to start at 9am at Euclid High School. The first question on the agenda could be whether Brown can conduct the meeting impartially.

Fudge had confided to associates before the conference call that she would attend today’s meeting to personally confront executive committee meetings over their refusal to endorse black judicial candidates. She seems to discount the fact that Karrie Howard, a former federal and state prosecutor who is receiving support from virtually every corner of the county, is unabashedly black. Fudge acknowledged in the meeting that pressure had been placed on Howard to leave the race he is leading to clear space for Turner but that he had declined. The Real Deal Press has learned that Kilbane also refused similar entreaties.

Much of the intrigue appears aimed at saving face for the Congresswoman, who risks the prospect of today’s meeting ending with her favored candidates striking out.

Several political consultants with whom we spoke following the meeting thought Fudge’s strategy was both unworkable and unsound, and that her tactics verged on bullying.

But there was virtually no dissent expressed from those on the call, according to several sources with knowledge of the meeting. State Rep. Kent Smith, who is Euclid city leader, did say that Howard had considerable support among his members who could not be counted on to support the Fudge plan.

Besides the clear impropriety of Brown’s active involvement in the scheming, what amazes most people who have spoken with RDP about the meeting was its gross indiscretion. Little attempt was made to vet the invited conferees, and no attempt was apparently made to exclude others who joined the call anonymously, ensuring that details of the call would become known even before Fudge could rejoin her colleagues in the Capitol.

In addition to Fudge, Brown, and Smith, the following people are known to have to been on the call, as confirmed by multiple sources or the individuals themselves:

Cleveland city councilmen Joe Jones [Ward 1], Blaine Griffin [6], Kevin Conwell [9], Anthony Hairston [10]; county councilwoman Yvonne Conwell [District 7]; Shaker Heights city leader Lisa Payne Jones; former Cleveland councilman Zack Reed; former Richmond Hts. mayor Miesha Headen; political activists Willie Britt, Kenn Johnson, Kent Whitley, and Angela Shute Woodson. Also on the call was Fudge political adviser Ken Dowell, who reportedly arranged the call.

Richmond Heights city council president Eloise Henry was also identified as having been on the call, but we have been unable to confirm her attendance as of publication.

And there were others.

Fudge is reported to have expressed the need to get Turner and Moore nominated as a sign of support for chairman Brown. But, as one listener said, “Shontel’s job is to do what Marcia needs done.”

In fairness to Brown, it is generally considered part of the chair’s duty to clear the field for preferred candidates in appropriate circumstances. But usual considerations of timing, manner, and nuance were disregarded in this instance.

There were some other intriguing comments attributed to the Congresswoman. One was a claim of entitlement for the black community, which provided substantial support to county executive Armond Budish in 2014. Fudge was also reported to have said that if west side Democrats would not support black candidates, they would be denied access to black pulpits.

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Why Fudge and Brown would burden Howard and Kilbane with the responsibility to pay back support to Budish, or what power Fudge has over black clergy, was not detailed.