In Upset, Pro-Israel-backed Candidate Wins Ohio Democratic Congressional Primary

By Times of Israel
Posted on 08/04/21 | News Source: Times of Israel

Shontel Brown, a Cuyahoga County councilwoman, came from behind in the polls to win a critical Democratic primary in a Cleveland area district with a substantial Jewish population, with considerable help from a mainstream pro-Israel political action committee.

Dave Wasserman, the political editor of the Cook Political Report, on Tuesday evening called the election in Ohio’s 11th District for Brown, who was facing Nina Turner, a former state senator who co-chaired the 2020 presidential run of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the flag-bearer for the party’s left. The AP also called the race for Brown.

Turner, who once enjoyed a 35-point advantage over Brown, saw her lead rapidly shrink in recent days and ended up being overhauled by Brown in a crowded field of 13 candidates vying to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Marcia Fudge, tapped by US President Joe Biden to serve as his housing secretary.

Turner was a leading national voice for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, and the US senator is among a long list of progressives including Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib to back the early frontrunner.

Brown, for her part, received the endorsements of the Congressional Black Caucus, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, House Majority Whip Joyce Beatty and Rep. Jim Clyburn.