Shontel Brown was sworn in as the congresswoman for Ohio’s 11th district last November, replacing Marcia Fudge who was confirmed in March 2021 to serve as President Biden’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She won a competitive primary in August, topping a field of 13 candidates, and skated to general election victory in November in this very blue district.
Since all members of Congress run every two years, she quickly had to mount a re-election campaign. This should’ve been an easy race — there’s not a hint of a reason to oust her after such a short time in office — in a year that will be packed with tough, competitive races. But her main opponent from last year, Nina Turner, who failed to concede or congratulate Brown after coming in second, decided to challenge her again in the Democratic primary taking place on May 3, sucking up resources Democrats will desperately need to hold off Republicans in November. It’s imperative to vote to re-elect Shontel Brown on May 3.
As a seasoned legislator skilled at working with others after seven years on Cuyahoga County Council, Brown arrived in D.C. in November, and dove right into the job of representing her diverse community. Just days after being sworn in, she had the opportunity to vote on passing President Biden’s infrastructure bill. She has already written and introduced several pieces of her own legislation, including bills to expand fitness opportunities for veterans and decrease class sizes, and co-sponsored four dozen more. And while she doesn’t oppose some of the largely aspirational concepts pushed by performative progressives, such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, she realizes that those policies have a long timeline and doing nothing in the meantime isn’t a constructive option. She’s currently ranked the 11th most progressive member of the House, above most of those performative progressives.
Brown has spent the last five months building relationships with colleagues to the point where she landed the endorsements of both the Congressional Black Caucus PAC and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC (the latter endorsed Turner last time). And she’s been conspicuously visible in the district, doing a whirlwind of Zoom & in-person meetings, telephone town halls, and appearing at events such as the swearing-in of new Cleveland mayor, Justin Bibb.
While the Plain Dealer, which endorsed Turner for a second time for its usual vague reasons, has its own agenda of stirring up chaos and weakening Democrats, there’s no excuse for any Democrat or Democratic organization to back ousting one of its own officeholders, barring a scandal or horrible votes such as supporting anti-abortion or pro-gun bills. Neither is the case with Brown. While Turner is slinging fabricated mud, one of her own top campaign officials from last year just pled guilty to attempted campaign finance fraud.
Throwing out a likable, genuine, hardworking progressive officeholder after less than a year would not only be a travesty; the churn would leave the district with a lame-duck congressperson for 8 months, destroying her effectiveness both in the district and D.C. — again, for no real reason.
Anyone who wants to see OH-11 represented by someone who is fighting for them — without being the loudest or most attention-seeking or spouting the most uotpian-sounding slogans — will vote for Shontel Brown in the primary on May 3 and re-elect her in November.
Get information on where and when to vote here.
2 Responses to “ENDORSEMENT: Re-elect Shontel Brown: She’s Done an Outstanding Job”
Patricia Blochowiak
If you’re going to criticize the OD, it might be useful to link its endorsement, which includes a link to the entire interview, a discussion of integrity, & SB’s meltdown. It’s at Cleveland dot com.
Walter Bruckner
The money quote here is this one:
“there’s no excuse for any Democrat or Democratic organization to back ousting one of its own officeholders”
I figured that once Mansfield died, “Cool Cleveland” would just turn into an entertainment rag for Suburban Whites who like to play downtown on the weekends.
I figured it would take a little more time than this, however.