Fudge fumbles again in local judicial endorsement process

Congresswoman's endorsements carrying less and less weight

Almost two years ago to the day, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge attempted an “ill-conceived and ineptly concealed private maneuver” to shape the outcome of the local Democratic Party judicial endorsement process. The botched effort to secure endorsements for two black women candidates, which we reported on here, brought to the surface the uneasy racial tensions that infects so much of local Democratic politics.

But if you thought the Congresswoman would be deterred from long distance interference, you were sadly mistaken. Last month she endorsed five candidates for county judgeships.

Despite there being several competent black women candidates, including two sitting municipal court judges, all five candidates Fudge chose to endorse are white.

U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge chairing hearing on
voting rights at Cuyahoga Community College
on April 25, 2019

Not a single one of the Congresswoman’s choices won the endorsement of the party’s Executive Committee.

What does this mean? For starters, it says that Fudge, who has represented Ohio’s storied 11^th District since 2008, wields astonishingly little influence within party ranks. Her choices gain little benefit from her announced support, and those who run against her candidates do so without political cost.

Our highest ranking elected official is essentially impotent when it comes to advancing our political interests.

This is a disastrous state of affairs for the black community. The political weakness of our Congressperson may not be apparent if one looks only at the election returns every two years. But after this year’s Census, Congressional districts will be expanded and redrawn, and there are lots of factors at play that could mean that the 11^th District seat may no longer continue as a safe preserve of black representation.

Signs of discontent are beginning to emerge within the District over the current state of affairs. The Cleveland NAACP recently joined forces with two political action groups to organize the Unified Endorsement/Ratings Process [UERP]. The three groups plan to vet candidates based on specific criteria of special import to the black community. Judicial candidates will be examined, for example, for their understanding of cultural competency, their appreciation of implicit bias, and their commitment to systemic reform.

The focus this year will be on judicial candidates, expanding over time to include legislative and executive races on local, county, state and national levels. The process launches this week with interviews scheduled for tonight and tomorrow from 5p-9p at the Harvard Community Center, 18240 Harvard Ave. [44128].

This initiative arose out of concerns that the judge4yourself.com process, while well-regarded, nonetheless had some flaws best addressed by this new process. A representative of GPAC, which is comprised largely of activists and clergy, and is a NAACP partner in the UERP process, says its work will complement, not displace, judge4yourself.

The third partner in this new effort, FIINPAC [Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Necessary Political Action Committee], has distinguished itself in years past with some productive voter registration efforts.

A unique feature of the UERP process is that while the NAACP will limit itself to rating candidates, FIINPAC and GPAC intend to endorse candidates and to extend campaign support to those it endorses.

Signs of Clergy Unrest

A more ominous indication that Congresswoman Fudge could be out of step with her constituency arose yesterday when she appeared at the weekly meeting of United Pastors in Mission. UPM, originally formed as an association of young activist pastors, has now matured into a collective of some political sophistication, with regular programming that has become part of the bipartisan campaign circuit for state and local public officials.

Fudge was there to tout her slate of judicial candidates but got pushback from several clergy members on at least two counts. Attendees wanted to know why she did not endorse Joy Kennedy, a well-qualified black attorney, for Domestic Relations judge. Fudge’s answer seemed to indicate surprise that Kennedy had remained in the race.

More problematic for Fudge by far was her avowed support for Gabriella Rosalina, whose father, Basil Russo, gained local renown as a ward leader and city councilman representing Little Italy, eventually rising to majority leader. before becoming a judge, first in Common Pleas, and then the Court of Appeals. Along the way, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor 1979.

Russo has long been a formidable ballot name county wide. Basil’s brother is chief judge of Probate Court. But another brother, Frank, tarnished the family name when he resigned as County Auditor in 2010 after pleading guilty as a ringleader in the county corruption scandal.

Basil has been pulling out all the stops to get his daughter the nomination, making contributions and pledges of financial support left and right, along with calling in old political favors. Some combination of these efforts was apparently enough to win Fudge’s support, along with that of 14 out of 17 Cleveland city councilmen.

Candidate Rosalina, however, has an undistinguished record as an attorney and is clearly uncomfortable on the campaign trail. She was the proverbial doe in headlights when seeking the party’s endorsement last month, which went to her opponent, Lisa Forbes, by such a surprisingly wide margin that Basil reportedly felt double-crossed.

The sense that Rosalina is an inferior candidate and that Forbes handily won the party endorsement led some UPM members to question Fudge’s game plan.

Part of the Congresswoman’s problem is the absence of any discernible criteria for what it takes to win her blessing.

An opaque process, resulting in an announcement of support without an accompanying rationale, followed by the proffer of zero resources beyond perhaps a played out radio commercial, and no consequence for ignoring or contravening the endorsement, have reduced a once-prized 11^th District endorsement to little more than a trinket.

The extreme political weakness of the black community has been developing for several years. As we head to Black History Month we’ll talk about why that is and what the future may hold.

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