Taxi for Shontel Brown

After earning the endorsement of both Cuyahoga County's State Senators, Nina Turner could be on the verge of breaking the Cleveland machine.

Cuyahoga Democratic Party Chairwoman Shontel Brown (left) and former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner (right) vie to replace former Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who vacated the seat to serve as the Secretary of House and Urban Development.

Running to replace Marcia Fudge in Congress Ohio’s 11th District was never supposed to be this hard for Shontel Brown.

As Chairwoman of the Cuyahoga Democratic Party, she sits at all the levers of power in the county’s political machine. It’s a position she cherishes so much that she refused to do the ethical thing by resigning before she decided to run for Congress.

But that’s how it’s done among Democrats in Cleveland. That’s why, as Party Chairwoman, Brown endorsed notorious crook Martin Sweeney in his failed run for State Senate in 2018. The club takes care of each other in their neck of the woods.

When former Bernie Sanders surrogate Nina Turner entered the race, the common thought among politicos was this would be another test between the progressive left wing of the party and its crusty establishment. Turner would raise a billion dollars thanks to her national profile and Brown would win by 20 points.

But it doesn’t fit that stereotype for a couple of reasons.

Yes, OH-11 overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential primary. But the race was pretty much decided by the time Ohio voted and we were still disinfecting our groceries out of fear of catching coronavirus.

Yes, Turner ideologically aligns with “The Squad.” But she is not a political outsider. She is a former State Senator and candidate for Secretary of State, which means she has deep political connections to the area.

Nobody batted an eye when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Turner. But Rep. Katie Porter of California certainly turned heads earlier this week when she announced her support for Turner.

Some handled the endorsement better than others:

David Darmofal @david_darmofal

So many white liberals' hero Katie Porter endorsing a candidate who compared supporting @JoeBiden to eating a bowl of sh*t.

Henry J. Gomez @HenryJGomez

Inbox: Rep. Katie Porter of California has endorsed Nina Turner in #OH11 special.

This is unfair to Nina, who only compared voting Joe Biden to eating half a bowl of shit when compared to voting for Donald Trump:

“It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of shit in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still shit.”

The Brown campaign will undoubtedly push this quote as much as they can, as if Turner didn’t vote for Biden and won’t be voting for his agenda 98% of the time. This will work on a certain type of voter that will say Turner “isn’t a Democrat” despite her career belonging to the party.

The attacks on Turner would be more effective if Brown hadn’t made her own enemies. Yesterday, Cuyahoga County’s State Senators Kenny Yuko, the Minority Leader, and Nicki Antonio (who beat the aforementioned Weenie Sweeney in 2018) endorsed Turner.

Then, to compound her growing problems, Brown appeared at a Stonewall forum in Cleveland and spoke like a Republican about a transgendered women she claimed was a friend.

bishop - Outside Agitator @bishop_chui

This. It was painful to watch.

Ohio Warren Dems @PersistOhio

Disappointed that a major candidate for OH-11 just repeatedly misgendered someone in a story during the Stonewall Democrats forum this evening. Trans women aren’t “men living their lives as women”—they are women. Shontel Brown needs to clarify her statement. https://t.co/hvHeO0tv13

Ohio Warren Dems @PersistOhio

@johni_sweeney She told a story about a friend who "lived his life as a trans woman," and proceeded to misgender them.

It goes deeper than just one dreadful answer at a forum, too.

Consider both candidates saying they’re pro-worker. That’s the easy part. The harder part is Turner going down to Bessemer, Alabama to stand in solidarity with Amazon warehouse workers trying to unionize. Turner understands how lifting the working conditions in Alabama can help warehouse workers back in her district.

Brown would probably claim she too understands that concept yet she was nowhere to be found. That would have required rocking the boat, which party apparatchiks don’t have the stomach to do—even if it’s against the richest man in the world who refuses to pay his workers a living wage.

I understand Nina Turner’s brash and sometimes confrontational style isn’t for everybody. If that style was for everyone, I’d already be blogging from Titty Island while drinking myself blind on coconut vodka.

But OH-11 voters will have the choice. Do they want somebody who will fight for them, or do they want somebody who will offer them platitudes while only fighting for themselves behind the scenes?

The choice is clear, and I tab Turner for the upset on Aug. 3rd.

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