Vote for more Heights representation

As city leader for the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, one of my tasks is to look at voting patterns in Cleveland Heights. For example, in November 2018, more than 21,000 people voted in the Senate race won by Sherrod Brown. That vote was overwhelmingly Democratic—21,438 for Brown and 266 for his opponent. There were 35,474 registered voters, so our turnout was 61 percent. This makes Cleveland Heights a political powerhouse whose votes are necessary to elect state Democratic leadership.

In Cleveland Heights we already have two sitting Supreme Court Justices elected in a statewide election, and now we have our own Cheryl Stephens on the Democratic ticket for Lieutenant Governor.

Most of us who vote know who Cheryl is—former Cleveland Heights City Council member; former vice mayor and mayor of our city; and, presently our Cuyahoga County Council member.

She’s been a rock-solid person on policy and practice, and is especially strong in economic development. Her day job is CEO of the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation, a major developer of affordable housing in the Akron/Canton area. Cheryl’s work on reinvestment in redlined areas has been a centerpiece of her career.

Having folks from Cleveland Heights in the state government gives us a chance to show what our values are across the state. Nan Whaley and Cheryl speak of protecting reproductive rights, working to control gun violence, ending racial discrimination, providing jobs and housing on an equitable basis, protecting public education so all children can have an opportunity to succeed in life, building healthy and safe neighborhoods. Diversity, equity and inclusion—those are all solid Cleveland Heights values.

If that is not enough to persuade you, remember that the DeWine administration presided over the biggest scandal in the country. Some now call his governorship the administration from First Energy, which paid $61 million in bribes to buy the government First Energy wanted. Two GOP speakers of the [state] house have had to resign because of corruption scandals. A prior governor ended up convicted of a crime of filing incomplete financial reports. Then there was "coin gate." Maybe the swamp in Columbus is bigger than the one in D.C., eh? It’s been too long that one party has been in power. Time for a change.

Vote the entire Democratic slate!