Wed 3/23 @ noon
With county executive Armond Budish retiring, Cuyahoga County residents will be electing a new leader in November. The City Club is giving voters the chance to hear from each candidate unfiltered.
It presented the almost-certain-to-be Democratic candidate Chris Ronayne, who resigned from his 16-year post leading University Circle Inc to run, on Tuesday March 15. It will host a lesser-known Democrat, Tariq Shabazz, who has run twice in congressional primaries including the special election Democratic primary last August, on Thursday March 24.
And yes, there will be a Republican opponent: Lee Weingart, who served just under two years as an appointed Cuyahoga County commissioner in the mid 1990s and then became a lobbyist, who speaks at the City Club Wednesday March 23. He seems to be trying to convince voters he’s a 1990s Jim Petro-style “reasonable” Republican promoting “responsible, competent and honest” government and “criminal justice reform” at a time when “Republican” means pledging fealty to Trump above all (The GOP U.S. Senate primary race in Ohio is all the proof you need.)
His lack of a policy record could help him do that, but to win he’ll have to actively repudiate virtually everything Republicans are doing in Columbus — the massive corruption, the voter suppression and unconstitutional gerrymandering, the homophobia and transphobia, the racism, the misogyny, the gun insanity, the rejection of green energy. Tune in and see if he does.
The program will also be live-streamed starting at 12:20pm. If you have a question, tweet @TheCityClub or text 330-541-5794.
cityclub.org/the-race-for-cuyahoga-county-executive-remarks-from-lee-weingart