My ballot for the August 3, 2021 Special Election Democratic Primary.

Early voting begins July 7.

For Representative to Congress (11th District) (Unexpired term ending 1–3–2023).

My vote: Nina Turner. (You will need to ask for the Democratic Primary ballot to vote for Turner.)

This race has 13 candidates, but only two are viable: Shontel Brown and Nina Turner.

The Brown campaign frames this as a race between the two main factions of the Democratic Party, and I agree. Brown’s can be described as the Corporate faction, which has captured the county party (CCDP), of which Brown is the Chair. Turner’s is the Progressive faction. Their national endorsement lists bear out this dynamic, with Brown endorsed by the likes of Hillary Clinton and James Clyburn, and Turner endorsed by Bernie Sanders and the “Squad”. (The Brown campaign tries to frame these factions as the Proud/Loyal Democrats versus the Untrustworthy Democrats. It would harm their campaign to acknowledge the ideological underpinnings of the two factions, because the district is fairly progressive ideologically.)

There are two reasons Brown’s campaign is aggressively framing the race this way.

1. The Corporate faction’s candidates (Clinton, Biden, and Fudge) have done well in this district for at least the last five years, so if these voters turn up for Brown, she can expect to do well. (This is also why Turner’s campaign downplays the factional dynamic.)
2. Brown can offer no other plausible reason to vote for her. (Click through for my thoughts on the Brown campaign, its ethical problems, and its role within Cuyahoga County.)

Most people who voted for Clinton, Biden, and Fudge did so for reasons of competence, substance, and other affinities, not their allegiance to the Corporate faction of the party. On competence and substance, Nina Turner far outpaces Brown. This explains why Turner seems to be the favorite in the race, despite the Progressive faction having done poorly here recently.

Personally, I do vote ideologically, so I would be voting for Turner even without her advantages on things like competence and substance. I just want the most progressive candidates to be in power. The fact that Turner is also charismatic, fearless, and dynamic means that the upside of electing Turner is very high. Nationally, Turner could easily become a leader within the progressive wing of congress, helping to form a powerful bloc that achieves progressive victories and changes public opinion. Locally, relatively moderate politicians are already lining up behind Nina and posing as progressives. If she’s elected, the incentive for local leaders to champion progressive causes will only increase, and progressive local candidates will have an easier time getting elected. This has the potential to transform the region.

Will Knight, the Shaker Heights High School wrestling coach running in this race, has significant yard sign coverage. This makes sense because he is a very likeable and admirable member of our community, and people tend to vote for who they know and like. However, Knight is not a viable candidate. To vote for Knight is to forfeit the power your vote gives you to have a say in the question of whether to empower Brown’s Corporate politics or Turner’s Progressive politics in our region and in the United States Congress. Unless you have no preference on this important question, voting for Knight seems ill-advised. Similar logic applies to other interesting candidates like Jeff Johnson and Tariq Shabazz.

Who am I? I maintain A People’s Archive of Police Violence in Cleveland, I co-founded the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition and Shaker Heights for Black Lives, I’m a registered Democrat, I’m a member of DSA, and I’m on the steering committee of the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus (CCPC). I live in Shaker Heights Precinct D.

Finally, for those interested, here is an updated description of my political ideology and orientation:

My political decisions are grounded in philosophical belief in justice and a more personal belief that I will never feel free until everyone is free. Achieving justice and freedom is an inherently social project. Therefore, my beliefs compel me to engage socially, fighting for the rights of people I don’t know just as tirelessly as I do for my own rights and those of my friends and family. This project will require humanity to reorganize itself to bring about international cooperation. In this project, I believe the role of people living in this country is to bring about a socialist “America.” Further, climate change, which threatens to destroy organized human society within the century, puts a time limit on this transformation: unless we very quickly move away from the competitive paradigm inherent to capitalism, there will be no escaping climate change’s catastrophic effects. Therefore, a relatively urgent and aggressive approach is called for.