Jay’s flight of fancy

What do you call a black man with a “Blue” political pedigree contemplating a bid for governor in a blood “Red” state? An optimist.

Or, out-of-touch – in the case of Jay Williams, the former mayor of Youngstown, who has been in Washington, D.C., since August 2011.

Williams is toying with the idea of running for governor of Ohio in 2018.

He joined the administration of President Barack Obama after serving as mayor for five years and seven months. He first was executive director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers and for 11 months also was deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

In May 2014, Williams was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as administrator of the Economic Development Administration – also known as assistant secretary of commerce for economic development.

But on Friday, Democrat Obama handed over the reins of power to Republican Donald Trump, and Williams and a whole lot of other at-will federal employees found themselves at loose ends.

Williams told The Vindicator that he has three or four job opportunities, or that he might do consulting work while he contemplates his gubernatorial bid.

“I’m evaluating all opportunities to see where I can be the most impactful,” he said. “If I join an organization, I’d give myself fully to that organization and not run for governor. But it’s part of the decision I’ll be making over the next few weeks.”

While he mulls over his political future, the former mayor of Youngstown, whose record was mixed – at best – might want to consider this reality:

‘Purple’

Ohio, which not so long ago was a “Purple” state, is now as Red as they come.

Republicans control all the statewide administrative offices, from governor on down, and occupy six of the seven Ohio Supreme Court judgeships. A Republican holds one of the two U.S. Senate seats, while 12 of the 16 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are firmly in the GOP column.

And then there’s the granddaddy of the 2016 political season that turned the Purple state Red: The race for president of the United States.

Donald J. Trump is in the White House today because Ohio was one of the key battleground states that decided the election.

Obama had carried Ohio in 2008 and 2012, and Democrats believed that their nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, would have no trouble replicating his victories. They were wrong.

Traditional Democratic voters, especially white, blue-collar men, made a beeline for the Trump Republican Party.

Why? Because the billionaire real estate developer who was born with a silver shovel in his hand convinced millions of working class voters that he not only felt their pain but had the medicine to ease it.

For instance, Trump brought his campaign to the Mahoning Valley and told residents pining for the good old days that he would resurrect the steel industry. Visions of smoke stacks bellowing thick black pollution danced in their heads.

They bought the Republican nominee’s spiel hook, line and sinker.

And the Democrats-turned-Republicans aren’t returning any time soon.

Which is why Williams’ thoughts about running for governor seem so fantastical.

But what if he does wake up one morning after a night of Democrats whispering political sweet nothings in his ear and decides to run for the state’s highest office?

That’s when reality will raise its ugly head. Yes, use of the word “ugly” is intentional – given the racist, homophobic, chauvinistic campaign Trump devised to divide and conquer in both the primary and general elections. He successfully tapped into the bigotry of a goodly number of voters.

Williams’ race will be a barrier, if not in the Democratic primary, then certainly in the general election.

Ohio has always had a white man serve as governor, even when it was a Purple state, so it’s a stretch to imagine that 2018 will bring a different result in redder than “Red” Ohio.

Given the outcome of the presidential election, Williams will also come to the realization that his being a part of the Obama administration is a political liability – as is his being mayor of the city of Youngstown.

Republicans will remind the voters that the last statewide officeholder to come out of the Mahoning Valley was Atty. Marc Dann, who served as attorney general for 17 months before resigning in 2008 amid the scandal of a sexual harassment investigation in his office and his extramarital affair.

And if that Valley connection doesn’t work, the GOP will undoubtedly focus on Williams’ five-year-plus tenure as mayor of crime-ridden Youngstown.

In August 2011, the column in this space under the headline, “Williams missed an opportunity,” said the following::

“As Jay Williams was departing Youngstown and giving up the office of mayor for bigger and better things in Washington, D.C., a 17-year-old black youth was lying in the morgue, another victim of the city’s cycle of violence.”

The column argued that Mayor Williams had failed to end the cycle of violence that has gripped the black community for many years.

That’s a record he will have to defend should he enter the race for governor.

Although he is a registered Democrat, Williams won the mayoral race as an independent, defeating the Democratic Party’s nominee, long-time Valley state legislator Robert F. Hagan.

If Williams decides to run for governor, he will seek the Democratic nomination and would be one of a long list of candidates.

Indeed, he could find himself locking horns with another Valley politician, Congressman Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, who hasn’t ruled out a bid for governor.