On January 6, 2024, the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party (CCDP) Executive Committee convened a packed house to practice democracy by hearing from candidates for our Party’s endorsement. And, to cast their votes. This was in sharp contrast to the Trump-inspired fanatics who tried to destroy democracy just three years earlier. Ultimately, for us to win in Ohio we must knit together a broad-based coalition.
Democracy demands transparency and I’d like to describe our executive committee endorsement process. It starts with the composition of the Executive Committee itself, which has 750 members. 400 of them are elected from our Central Committee. 350 are appointed, and all could conceivably be appointed by me as Chair based on our bylaws. That is something I have chosen not to do, as I prefer empowering our City and Ward leaders as much as possible. 329 of the 350 appointed members were appointed by our City and Ward Leaders this past year, and I simply and perfunctorily approved those appointments. I do not plan to deviate from this practice.
I directly appointed only 20 Executive Committee members. In some of these instances it was because elected officials asked me to appoint them. Other instances included City/Ward Leaders who’d forgotten to include themselves in their original submissions.
At no point did I ask any person who I appointed, nor any person appointed by one of the Leaders, what their ideological beliefs are, nor how they intended to vote during the endorsement process. Nor will I ever do that. Making this process, and the endorsement process itself, as democratic as possible is the simplest way to guarantee transparency and to engender trust.
If someone wants to be involved with the Party, volunteer to advance our causes, work at a polling place, write postcards, text bank, or any number of the countless other activities we must perform to win, I do not care if that person is conservative, moderate, or progressive. I don’t care if that person agrees with me on every issue. Or any. All I care about is that they are a Democrat or want to defeat Republicans and Trumpism.
Today’s MAGA movement denies election results when they lose, believes non-white people are not truly Americans, bombards blue collar workers with lies (while Democrats increase their wages, protect their rights, and support their unions), and offers literally no new policy proposals for any actual problems in a world that constantly evolves. For example, when was the last time a Republican talked about poverty without blaming poor people for being poor? And, as always, I’m still awaiting the Republican alternative to Obamacare.
I was, however, disappointed by some of the outbursts at the last Executive Committee meeting. Verbal insults have no place in our Party or at a meeting like that. As I said on that day, it is our duty to question our elected officials, of all parties. But this must also be done constructively. We cannot allow differences between ourselves, or about any of the candidates we support, to cause us to act like Republicans. At future meetings of this kind, I will work harder to limit disruptions of this nature. The right to free speech is essential. The right to disrupt a peaceful meeting is not.
My primary emphases as Chair remain the same as the day I was elected: defeating Republicans in Cuyahoga County and increasing turnout in this county to do the same in statewide elections.
We have achieved so much together in the last 16 months. Democrats won 56 out of 57 races here in November of 2022. The CCDP collected 24,000 signatures to get reproductive rights on the ballot (three times more than the next closest county party and nearly 500% of the ODP’s goal for us). Cuyahoga County had the highest number of No votes in Ohio, and the state’s highest percentage of No votes in August’s special election. We got the highest Yes percentage—in the state’s most Catholic county—for Issue 1 in November. And in a county with 34 Common Pleas judges, only four of whom are not White, in a county that is nearly 40% non-White, our party just endorsed three Black candidates for open seats on that bench. That is a great record of achievement for our party.
There is so much more to do. And the stakes could not be higher. That’s why you’ll continue to find me nearly every weeknight, every Saturday and most Sundays as well, at any of a number of events supporting Democratic people and causes, and our community as a whole, no matter what ideology it appeals to. I welcome your input, questions and suggestions. Most of all I ask that we keep our focus on the task at hand—electing Democrats to office up and down the ballot. Our democracy depends on it.
