In the year 2021, Ohio has lost two of their Congress members. One of those members was from Ohio’s 11th Congressional District was Marcia Fudge. She left office when she became the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Biden Administration. The other Congressman who isn’t in office any longer is Steve Stivers who resigned in May.
First, let’s talk about the 11th Congressional District in Ohio. This is a safe blue seat for Democrats. In the 2020 general election, Marcia Fudge won this race with 80.1% of the vote. The Republican, Laverne Gore never even had a chance. That’s what I think about this election. The Democratic primary is the only thing that matters.
The candidates with the most support as of right now are Nina Turner and Shontel Brown. Nina Turner is the more progressive Democrat. She is the President of Our Revolution which is a political organization that formed when Bernie Sanders withdrew from the 2016 Presidential Election. It is a progressive movement which shows Turner is a progressive. Turner is also a former Ohio State Senator and while in the Senate she was the Minority Whip at one point. She also worked for both of Bernie Sanders Presidential Campaigns in 2016 and 2020.
The other Democrat, Shontel Brown is known as the more centrist Democrat in this race. She is currently a Cuyahoga County councilor and she is the Chair of the Cuyahoga County Democrat Party. She also has the support of Hillary Clinton and Jim Clyburn who is the US House Majority Whip. Those are two big name endorsements.
Don’t count out the endorsements that Turner has though. She has the endorsement of Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She also has the endorsement of Mark Ruffalo the actor of the Incredible Hulk.
The most recent poll from this race came out on July 8th. Nina Turner had 43% and Shontel Brown had 36%. 7% went to others and 14% was undecided. I wouldn’t count Shontel Brown out for the count. Most of this district is in Cuyahoga County and Shontel Brown is a Cuyahoga County councilor.
Now, let’s talk about Ohio’s 15th district. This is a most likely Republican win so I’m only going to talk about the Republicans. There are four candidates that I feel like have the best chance in this race. One is Mike Carey. That is an obvious choice since he has the endorsement of Donald Trump. He is the Vice President of Governmental affairs at American Consolidated Natural Resources.
Next up, I’m going to talk about Jeff LaRe. This is the candidate that Steve Stivers endorsed. Stivers was the former holding of this Congressional seat. He is a state representative.
Bob Peterson is another candidate that I believe has a shot at winning. He’s an Ohio State Senator who has a ton of endorsements from state legislators, county commissioners, and mayors.
The last candidate is Ron Hood. He was an Ohio State Representative. He doesn’t really have any endorsements, but he has the same poll numbers as Bob Peterson. The most recent polls show that Mike Carey has 20%, Jeff LaRe has 9%, and Bob Peterson and Ron Hood both have 7%. In total, 12% goes to other candidates and 44% is undecided. This race is still very close and you could see LaRe, Peterson, and Hood make a comeback.
My personal prediction is that Nina Turner and Mike Carey will soon be United States Representatives some time after November 2nd.
By: Ellis Savage
