Frost out as county GOP chair after long run. Two women, including an African American, elected to lead

CPT • Cuyahoga Politics Today

Donna Walker-Brown, Lisa Stickan elected to head County GOP

By R. T. Andrews

Donna Walker-Brown is the new
chairperson of the County
GOP Executive Committee

The Cuyahoga County Republican Party has been around for 165 years or so. It has always been led by white men. Starting tomorrow, the chairs of both its Central Committee and its Executive Committee will be women. And one of them, incoming Executive Committee chair Donna Walker-Brown, is African American.

Lisa Marie Stickan is the new chairperson
of the County GOP Central Committee

Lisa Stickan, president of the Highland Heights city council and an attorney in the county court system, routed long time party chair Rob Frost by a decisive 2-1 majority. Her entire “Cuyahoga First” slate was also elected.

The vote was originally scheduled to take place in late March shortly after the expected March 17 primary. But Primary Day voting was canceled because of the statewide coronavirus shutdown and then extended in a vote by mail process that concluded on April 28. Those primary results identified new Republican precinct officials who were eligible to vote for new party leaders.

That election was also a hybrid process, with mail ballots sent out June 3. The incoming votes were tallied and announced this afternoon at the Rockside Road offices of accounting firm REA and Associates in Independence.

Stickan’s victory was not a big surprise, although the decisiveness of her victory was eyebrow-raising. Frost had led the party for 15 years and his star had been on the decline. “Frost fatigue” was evident among some party insiders last year when he was forced to relinquish his executive party chairmanship, though he remained as head of the central committee.

Another factor in the Stickan-Frost result may have been their relationship with the re-election campaign of President Donald Trump. Stickan is an enthusiastic Trump loyalist, while Frost is considerably more lukewarm.

In contrast to the clear-cut race between Stickan and Frost, the contest for executive committee chair was full of intrigue. Peter Corrigan, who ran for county executive in 2017, was named interim executive committee chair last fall when Frost was pushed out. He had been expected to run unopposed for a full term. But after Strongsville mayor Tom Perciak was nominated for the position, Corrigan nominated Walker-Brown, a close ally, and then withdrew his own name from consideration.

It was a tight race, with Walker-Brown winning by four votes.

It is unclear the extent to which national and local unrest may have affected the Walker-Brown vs. Perciak contest. A large proportion of committee members voted as early as June 4, just days after protests got out of hand in downtown Cleveland. Party headquarters were among the casualties of the demonstration, and graffiti writers reportedly scrawled a direct message for GOP officials: “You should have listened earlier.”

Stacey Polk, whose family have long been proud Republicans, thinks the national turmoil likely aided Walker-Brown’s candidacy to some degree. Polk, an attorney who for the past year has led the party’s Minority Outreach Initiative Committee, said it’s hard to imagine that precinct committee people could have been oblivious to the winds of change.

Polk, who is African American, said she had supported Walker-Brown in her primary contest for a position on the state central committee. Though she did not win the seat, the name recognition may have helped Walker-Brown in the contest for chair.

Polk praised Walker-Brown for her work with the Inner City Republican Movement that Walker-Brown founded and leads. And she described Stickan as “high energy, smart, politically astute, and culturally competent”.

Walker-Brown said her election was evidence of “God’s mercy and grace” and proof that “He is still in the miracle business”. She said that she would be moving forward on a platform of unification and growth.

As executive committee chair, Walker-Brown will direct the party's endorsement process, as well as preside over the party's elections to the county elections board. Frost currently holds one of the two GOP seats.

Stickan’s victorious Central Committee slate included Chris Corrigan as vice chair, Amanda Billy as secretary, Robert Bodi as treasurer, and Tierra Morrison as assistant treasurer.

Stickan did not respond to a request for comment. 

The new chairs assume their new roles tomorrow, July 1. Each position pays somewhere between $54,000 and $57,000, according to a party official.

• • •• • •

AROUND TOWN TODAY | Quick Takes on the Civic Scene

Black Philanthropy Summit • Black Citizenship in Action • Cleveland Rising! • Cuyahoga GOP

 By R. T. Andrews

The sixth biannual African American Philanthropy Summit takes place today from 1-3PM via Zoom. Registration is now closed but we will have a report for you.

If you are moved by what’s happening around the country and are wondering how you might get involved, here are two suggestions:

Read this compelling op-ed by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor for a keen perspective on how to understand what's happening in our country today in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Consider attending "Black Citizenship in Action Online" [BCA] today at noon. Discussion will center on how black people in this country gained citizenship rights and how that power can be used to create lasting community change. 

Jessica Byrd online during
Black Citizenship in Action

BCA includes local community outreach and mobilization opportunities and civic and voter engagement that help deepen black people's shared understanding of our rights as citizens and helps build the power needed to create a future that works for us.

Cleveland Rising!, the curious collective effort of certain Clevelanders concerned about our city's cratered condition, convenes this afternoon from 1-2:30PM via Zoom. Working groups formed at the CLE Rising Summit will share progress toward aspirational goals identified last fall. Virtual attendees, after watching the working group presentations, will have an opportunity to provide feedback.

 Register here.

• • •

The Cuyahoga County Republican Party holds organizational meetings today  for its central and executive committees amidst unusual circumstances. State law requires political parties to meet within 15 days of the certification of the election of their precinct committee people, which occurred earlier this month following the close of primary voting on April 28.

Today’s meeting will be held at the Cuyahoga Heights City Hall but, given the restrictions on public gatherings imposed by the state in the midst of the pandemic, most of those attending will do so via Zoom. How this will affect voting is still unclear, a matter of both logistics and intra-party intrigue, according to party insiders with whom we have spoken.

Until last fall, Rob Frost chaired both the central and the executive committees. Sources told us there has been mounting dissatisfaction over the party’s operations and its ballot box performance in recent years. Frost yielded the chair of the executive committee at that time but retained control of the more powerful central committee.

Today’s vote will test how much power Frost retains. He is being challenged by Lisa Stickan, a city councilwoman from Highland Heights. Stickan is the daughter of Lucy Stickan, a long-time party activist in the county GOP and a high-ranking party official.

Frost still controls a lot of the party’s levers, so the outcome may turn on voting logistics and whether the vote will extend past today.

Peter Corrigan, who was named interim chair of the executive committee in December after Frost stepped down, is unlikely to be opposed and is expected to shed the interim tag and be installed as chair after the vote.

• • •• • •