CLEVELAND -- More than once, Nina Turner has risked her career in elected life to do what’s best for this community and its children.
Now, as the Aug. 3 primary election nears for the seat in Congress vacated by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Turner’s history is being conveniently discarded.
What civic political and corporate leaders once saw as undaunted courage has morphed into concern about Turner’s far-left politics and claims that her at-times inflammatory rhetoric would make it impossible for her to get things done for residents of Ohio’s 11th congressional district.
Turner’s boat-rocking is fine with them, provided they get to pick the boat.
Turner is the unquestioned front-runner in the campaign for Fudge’s seat. But she’s no sure thing. Many Black Democrats don’t like her. Some mistakes have been of her own making. And one of them poses a significant threat to her candidacy.
As the election nears, Turner’s most formidable opponent will prove to be Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chair Shontel Brown, who is also a member of the Cuyahoga County Council. Brown will be a well-financed candidate with deep-pocketed supporters who aren’t afraid to play rough.
That’s because Turner can’t be beaten unless opponents plant seeds of doubt about her fitness, convincing voters her harsh criticisms of President Joe Biden would make it impossible for her to get things done for her community.
The notion that Biden might punish a constituency important to him because Turner represents that constituency in Congress is far-fetched. During the 2020 campaign, Sen. Kamala Harris was bitterly critical of Biden’s civil rights record. Nevertheless, Biden chose her as his running mate, effectively rewarding her with the vice presidency.
But words Turner uttered in the summer of 2020 will be weaponized against her. In an interview with the Atlantic magazine, Turner was critical of Biden’s record on civil rights, and said of the election choice between Biden and Trump, “It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of s--- in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still s---.”
And what she said is still wrong. Biden is a decent human being. Trump reeks of cruelty and mendacity.
Turner now acknowledges being impressed by the early months of Biden’s presidency. “In that moment, I was challenging the thoughts of some people all over the country,” she said of the 2020 vulgarity. “It wasn’t really about Biden and Trump. It was about systematic abuses people face.”
That’s not good enough. The way to fix this is with five words, just six syllables:
“I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Nevertheless, it’s overreach to suggest all this makes Turner unfit for the office she seeks, as it overlooks years of passionate support for progressive causes and irrefutable evidence of Turner’s risk-taking for a greater good.
In 2012, Turner, then a state senator, was a full-throated supporter of Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan designed to improve Cleveland schools, a plan that required changes to state law. Her stance angered the all-powerful teachers union, putting Turner on the very short list of liberal Democrats who don’t accede to organized labor’s every whim.
The plan was approved. And Turner’s support was undoubtedly a factor in Jackson’s endorsement of her in August’s Democratic congressional primary.
Just three years earlier, Turner courageously backed the county government reform ballot issue. For refusing to join the loud chorus of those who concocted false reasons to oppose reform, Turner was vilified by Black leaders and prominent Democrats. On Election Day 2009, voters of every color and in every community supported the reform issue.
Absent an event rivaling Martians landing on Euclid Avenue, the winner of the Democratic primary will prevail in the general election and serve out the remainder of Fudge’s term.
Of the 13 Democrats who filed petitions by the May 5 deadline, only Brown and Turner will raise the seven-figure campaign cash needed to compete. Former Cleveland Councilman Jeff Johnson could make a case for his candidacy but won’t have the well-funded campaign required to compete.
The gerrymandered 11th District, which will be redrawn for the 2022 election, includes most of Cleveland, then runs south through some of the eastern suburbs to include some minority neighborhoods in Akron. The district is a version of the one represented by only three Democrats since its creation in 1968: the late Louis Stokes and Stephanie Tubbs Jones, then Fudge.
Shontel Brown is widely regarded as a serious officeholder with a genuine desire to serve. She is well-liked, but her record of accomplishment is wafer-thin.
Turner has a world-class political resume, but she’s never been a comfortable fit for Greater Cleveland’s risk-averse leadership class.
Her campaign also involves some careful needle-threading. In a YouTube ad aimed at young voters, Turner describes herself as an “angry-ass Black woman.” Turner’s ad on Cleveland television stations is altogether different, a well-produced, polite biography spot designed to appeal to older voters – the ones who will cast ballots in what will be a low-turnout special election.
To win, Turner will need an answer to the onslaught of negativity headed her way. Turner’s enemies made her a star. Now we’ll find out if they can deny her a seat in Congress.
Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer’s editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.
To reach Brent Larkin: blarkin@cleveland.com
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