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Battle raging over state Democratic Party chair
On the side
Finance reports: Post-election campaign finance reports for those who ran in the Nov. 4 election are due today. These are the final finance reports for candidates in last month’s election and will tell the whole monetary story of the various campaigns. The reports include financial activity between Oct. 16 and Dec. 5.
Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Carol Ann Robb, who won the open 7th District Court of Appeals race, gave $101,532 to her campaign between June 7 and Oct. 15. It’s quite likely she provided even more of her own money.
We’ll also see if Susan Maruca, the failed Mahoning County Probate Court judicial candidate, poured more money into her campaign. Between last month’s election and her unsuccessful 2008 run for the same post, she’d given $155,203 to her campaign as of Oct. 15. Her opponent, Judge Robert N. Rusu, raised money fast without putting any of his own into the campaign as of Oct. 15.
When U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, the state’s best-known elected Democrat, strongly backed Sharen Neuhardt to head the Ohio Democratic Party, a number of prominent party members questioned why.
While Neuhardt is intelligent and likeable, she was the lieutenant governor running mate on the ticket that saw the second worst defeat for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in the state’s history, and lost congressional races in 2008 and 2012.
In an interview with me last week, Brown said the Nov. 4 governor’s race loss “wasn’t her fault.”
He’s correct, but several party leaders don’t want someone who is a constant reminder of last month’s gubernatorial fiasco in such a powerful position as chairman.
Brown also said he was backing Neuhardt because “she’s the best candidate,” and he’s made numerous calls to Democrats to whip votes for her. The 148-member executive committee will meet Tuesday to vote on a new chairman, replacing Chris Redfern, who announced his intention to resign after the results were in Nov. 4.
“She’s got way more votes than anyone else,” Brown said last week about Neuhardt.
I don’t know who Brown was talking to because it was clear to me and others last week that David Pepper was the leading candidate. There’s no denying now that Pepper has more than enough support to be elected chairman Tuesday.
State Rep. Robert F. Hagan had previously said he’d get out of the race if it became obvious he couldn’t win. He withdrew Wednesday. Hagan, who said he had about 20 votes, threw his support behind Pepper, and several people backing him did the same.
Mahoning County Democratic Chairman David Betras, a Hagan supporter and state executive committee member, said he and Hagan “reached the conclusion that supporting David Pepper was in the best interests of the party, and, most importantly, the people of Mahoning County. We both expressed our concerns about the ODP to Mr. Pepper and we’re confident that we will have the opportunity to exert substantial influence over the direction the party takes in the years ahead.”
Hagan said he told Pepper “that I expected him to open up the party by sweeping aside the entrenched interests that have ill-served Ohio Democrats for far too long. He pledged to do so.”
Even before Hagan and most of his supporters backed him, Pepper said he had about 90 votes, a majority of the executive committee members. He’s now the overwhelming favorite to be elected Tuesday.
That several Democrats throughout the state — including some heavy-hitters like U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan and Marcia Fudge who don’t have votes — publicly endorsed Pepper can be seen as blows to Brown’s role as the party’s unofficial leader.
“David is capable, smart, and a strategic thinker. He brings new energy, fresh ideas and a deep commitment to justice, equality and fairness for all people,” wrote Ryan, Fudge and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, who is on the executive committee. U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the only other Democrat from Ohio in the House, didn’t sign off on the statement, choosing to stay out of the race, and possibly play peacemaker after the chairman’s vote.
Pepper isn’t perfect; far from it. The former Hamilton County commissioner and Cincinnati councilman lost the 2010 auditor’s race and was defeated last month in the attorney general’s race. But he’s known as a solid fundraiser, someone with a great deal of personal wealth, and a tireless campaigner.
When I asked Brown last week if supporting Neuhardt put his credibility on the line, he said it didn’t.
A few Democrats told me Brown failed to relate well with those on the executive committee, and that some members who didn’t support Neuhardt felt she and the senator were applying too much pressure and making them uncomfortable.
Some Democratic leaders want Neuhardt to get out of the race so as not to publicly embarrass her and Brown. With little, if any, chance to win, we’ll see if that happens.