New: The Democratic primary to fill Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge's seat is shaping up to be another ideological battle between the Democratic Party's left wing and its more moderate establishment. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nina-turner-shontel-brown-ohio-special-election_n_602acabdc5b6591becdaca75?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004 via @HuffPostPol
Ohio Election Tests The Left’s Strength In Establishment Stronghold

Former state Sen. Nina Turner, top Cleveland Democrat Shontel Brown and other moderates are vying to succeed Rep. Marcia Fudge.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nina-turner-shontel-brown-ohio-special-election_n_602acabdc5b6591becdaca75?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
Some items of interest in here: @ninaturner is best known as a left-wing brawler and early Sanders endorser, but she comes to the table with the advantages of a veteran state lawmaker that are rare for a progressive, including big money and big endorsements ...
... Turner earned the loyalty of @ohiosenatedems leader @KennyYuko with her advocacy for a referendum repealing an anti-union bill.

Later, she worked with John Kasich after Tamir Rice's death. His spokesperson told me that he and Turner and Kasich had a "great relationship."
... Turner earned the loyalty of @ohiosenatedems leader @KennyYuko with her advocacy for a referendum repealing an anti-union bill.Later, she worked with John Kasich after Tamir Rice's death. His spokesperson told me that he and Turner and Kasich had a "great relationship."
... Turner earned the loyalty of @ohiosenatedems leader @KennyYuko with her advocacy for a referendum repealing an anti-union bill.Later, she worked with John Kasich after Tamir Rice's death. His spokesperson told me that he and Turner and Kasich had a "great relationship."
Turner's toughest opponent: @ShontelMBrown, a Cuyahoga County councilwoman and chair of the Cuyahoga County Dems.

Brown boasts similar working-class roots, upward mobility and Christian devotion, but has chose a different path to power ...
... Brown is a close ally of Rep. Marcia Fudge's. They both hail from Warrensville Heights and Fudge backed her bid for party chair.

Fudge has yet to endorse and a spokesperson for her House office declined comment.
Brown has the sunny disposition of a marketing professional. The story she tells about her childhood is not about her or her parents' struggles, but about selling candy on the school bus.

“Sales is kind of in my DNA."

Turner, by contrast, has the air of left-wing preacher.
We've seen many Democratic primaries turn into proxy battles between the center-left and left.

What makes this different? It's the first one after Biden's election in a district opening up because the incumbent is becoming one of his cabinet secretaries.
Brown and her supporters, including @RStrategyGroup's Jeff Rusnak, who chaired Bernie's 2016 Ohio operation, argue that cooperation is superior to confrontation under a Dem administration.
In a Democratic district that has been held by nationally-recognized -- and generally establishment-aligned -- Black leaders since 1969, a figure like Turner, seen as antagonistic to Democrats, would be a first.

“It’s completely untested terrain for the left,” @POTUSprof.
In a Democratic district that has been held by nationally-recognized -- and generally establishment-aligned -- Black leaders since 1969, a figure like Turner, seen as antagonistic to Democrats, would be a first.“It’s completely untested terrain for the left,” @POTUSprof.
In a Democratic district that has been held by nationally-recognized -- and generally establishment-aligned -- Black leaders since 1969, a figure like Turner, seen as antagonistic to Democrats, would be a first.“It’s completely untested terrain for the left,” @POTUSprof.
Turner's famously unfiltered style and criticism of establishment Democrats is almost certain to become a major issue ...
... With that in mind, I asked Turner about her comments appearing to liken the Trump-Biden contest to a choice between "a bowl of shit" and "half a bowl of shit."

Reference here: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/how-trump-could-win-reelection/612205/
Turner's response: It was about asking people to settle for the lesser of two evils.

Also, Turner compares it to Harris and Biden reconciling. “I would like to think people would judge me by my entire body of work and not just a colorful comment I made that they disagreed with."
Full transcript of comments about lesser of two evils choice: "That comment was about the conditions, about the two -- neo-fascism and neo-liberalism -- and not necessarily about the two individuals -- Donald Trump and Joe Biden at that time ..."
Brown, who says she is going to be a "partner" to Biden-Harris, rather than a "thorn" in their side, has policy positions that are identical to Biden's.

(FWIW, that puts her to the right of Fudge who is a co-sponsor of Medicare for All and a member of @USProgressives.)
The Israel policy angle: As @J_Insider's @matthewkassel first reported, the AIPAC-affiliated group Pro-Israel America is endorsing Brown.

By my count of official data, @ProIsraelAm bundled some $440k for Antone Melton-Meaux, Rep. Omar's unsuccessful challenger.
Why it matters: Thanks to Cleveland suburbs like Beachwood, 5% of Ohio's 11th population is Jewish.

Right-leaning pro-Israel groups -- bloodied by the losses of Melton-Meaux and Rep. Eliot Engel -- are eager for a win. That means someone opposed to conditioning US aid to Israel.
Pro-Israel groups were way behind unions and big business as sources of money for Fudge, but they gave decently.

And Fudge made a point of highlighting her pro-Israel bona fides, including through a high-profile 2014 meeting with Shimon Peres. https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/marcia-l-fudge/industries?cid=N00030490&cycle=CAREER
Pro-Israel groups were way behind unions and big business as sources of money for Fudge, but they gave decently.And Fudge made a point of highlighting her pro-Israel bona fides, including through a high-profile 2014 meeting with Shimon Peres. https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/marcia-l-fudge/industries?cid=N00030490&cycle=CAREER
Pro-Israel groups were way behind unions and big business as sources of money for Fudge, but they gave decently.And Fudge made a point of highlighting her pro-Israel bona fides, including through a high-profile 2014 meeting with Shimon Peres. https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/marcia-l-fudge/industries?cid=N00030490&cycle=CAREER
A possible advantage for Turner: There are three other Democratic candidates in the running who resemble Brown ideologically -- former state Sens. Jeff Johnson and Shirley Smith, and former state Rep. John Barnes Jr. -- and are competing for similar voters.
Shirley Smith, a former Coca-Cola brand manager and consultant, is pitching herself as an alternative to the left *and* the Cleveland machine ...
... She said this about Brown, who has an associate's degree from Cuyahoga Community College: "It would be difficult for Shontel to make decisions on education because she hasn’t gone that far in education."
Smith and Johnson called on Brown to step down as county party chair, calling it a conflict of interest while running for office.

It's meant she can do things like send mailers to county Democrats with her photo without having to spend campaign money.
Brown will not be stepping down. And though she is competing against four other Black people, she told me she thinks calls for her to step down reflect a racist, sexist and ageist "double standard."
Some things we may hear more about, but that I did not have adequate space to report out this piece:

-- Brown's guilt by association for the alleged corruption of the Cuyahoga County Democratic machine, including county executive Armond Budish. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/01/cuyahoga-county-executive-armond-budish-accused-of-secretly-pushing-for-east-cleveland-as-location-for-new-jail.html
-- Turner's post-Bernie consulting work. Her firm is under the umbrella of Mercury, a bipartisan outfit with corporate clients. What are her current clients?

I also didn't mention Turner's failed bid for Ohio sec. of state in 2014. (Lousy year for Dems). https://www.mercuryllc.com/nina-turner-launches-national-public-affairs-firm-to-advance-progressive-issues/
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