Photo-stream: 10 female Cleveland, Cuyahoga County judges attend Black Women's PAC fundraising luncheon and Meet & Greet on October 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center....Read who else was there via this article....By editor and associate publisher Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanponlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader
Pictured are nine of the municipal or common pleas judges of Cleveland of Cuyahoga County who attended the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the Black Women's PAC (BWPAC) of greater Cleveland on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio, a largely Black Cleveland suburb. Pictured from left are: Cleveland Judge Jazmin Torres-Lugo, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judges Deborah Turner and Cassandra Collier Williams, County Domestic Relations Court Judge Tonya R. Jones, Cleveland Judges Sheila Turner McCall and Pinkey Carr, Cleveland Housing Court Judge W. Mona' Scott, and Cleveland Judges Lauren Moore and Suzan Marie Sweeney. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart was also among the judges at the event and appears in another photo relative to this article, Stewart the first Black elected to the Ohio Supreme Court
Black Women's PAC President Elaine Gohlstin (sitting) poses with Black women during the the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the BWPAC of greater Cleveland on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio. Pictured at the far rights is Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Judge Tonya R. Jones, the first Black woman elected to that post. Second from right is Cleveland Judge Sheila Turner McCall (All photos by photojournalist Louie Moore)
Cleveland Municipal Court judicial candidate Andrea Nelson Moore (left) poses with a supporter during the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio
Attendees pose for a photo at the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart (second from left) was also among the judges that attended the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio, Stewart the first Black elected to the Ohio Supreme Court. Pictured at the far rights is Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Judge Tonya R. Jones, the first Black woman elected to that post.
The Rev. and Mrs Elaine Gohlstin (second and third from left, respectively), who is also president of the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland, pose with an attendee at the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the BWPAC on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio
Members of the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland, pose with Cleveland Housing Court Judge W. Mona' Scott (third from left) at the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the BWPAC on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio
The audience at the annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser by the Black Women's PAC of greater Cleveland on Sat., Oct 23 at the Mediterranean Party Center in Bedford Heights, Ohio (All photos by photojournalist Louie Moore)
By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief
BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio-The Black Women's Political Action Committee of greater Cleveland (BWPAC) held its annual Candidates Meet & Greet Fundraiser luncheon at the Mediterranean Party Center Saturday afternoon in Bedford Heights, Ohio, a 78 percent Black suburb of Cleveland.
"Thanks so much for supporting this annual fundraiser," Elaine Gohlstin, president of the Black Women's PAC and the mistress of ceremonies for Saturday's event, told the audience members in attendance.
Gohlstin has led the organization for several years and replaced former longtime president Una H. R. Keenon, a founding member of the group and a retired East Cleveland judge and current East Cleveland School Board president who is now the vice president of the organization.
Gohlstin said that the monies from fundraisers help the BWPAC with events and any donations it might make to candidates the group of political Black women has endorsed. She said her group also educates women politically and pushes for more Black women to become actively engaged in the political process.
The event comes as the Nov. 2 general election nears for Cleveland mayor, the 17 seats on Cleveland City Council that are all up for grabs, open Cleveland judgeship seats, and some suburban mayor city council and other offices. It drew a host of prominent people, including area judges, Maple Heights Mayor Annette M. Blackwell, Beachwood Mayor Martin H. Horwitz, and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart, the first Black elected to Ohio's highest court.
Cleveland mayoral runoff candidates nonprofit executive Justin Bibb and Council President Kevin Kelley
Cleveland Council President Kevin Kelley, who will face non-profit executive Justin Bibb for runoff for mayor in the fight to replace retiring four-term Black mayor Frank Jackson, was also in attendance and spoke, and former Cleveland councilman Zack Reed, who placed fourth last month's primary for Cleveland mayor, spoke on behalf of Bibb, whom he has endorsed.
Others there include Cleveland Municipal Court Judges Lauren Moore, Pinkey Carr, Jazmin Torres-Lugo, Suzan Marie Sweeney and Sheila Turner McCall, Cleveland Housing Court Judge W. Mona' Scott, Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Judge Tonya R. Jones, who is the first Black elected to the county domestic relations court, Common Pleas Judges Casandra Collier Williams and Deborah Turner, former Common Pleas Strickland Judge Wanda Jones, Shaker Heights judicial candidates Sydney Saffold and Laura Creed, 11th congressional District Republican Nominee Lavern Gore, Cleveland judicial candidate Andrea Nelson Moore, Asia Jones, the candidate for Cleveland Ward 8 who faces Councilman Michael Polensek for the November election. Also among those there were Euclid City Council President, Rev. Dr. Rebecca Stitt, Lee Weingart, Cuyahoga County Drug and Alcohol Board President Rev. Benjamin Gohlstin, Richmond Heights Councilwoman Cassandra Nelson, Eric Synenberg, who is running for a Beachwood City Council seat, Bedford School Board candidate Danielle Turner Birch, Euclid City Council candidate Lisa Nelson, and Dr. Bennanaye Brooks, president of the League of Women Voters Greater Cleveland Chapter and a candidate for the East Cleveland School Board.
In total, there were 10 judges there, eight of them Black, one Hispanic and one White. And all 10 are Democrats as both the majority Black city of Cleveland and the 29 percent Black county it sits in, Cuyahoga County, are Democratic strongholds.
BWPAC committee members who organized Saturday's fundraising luncheon were Barbara Transportation Parks, Clover Elliot, BWPAC Secretary Patricia Ivey, Je'Nine Nickerson, LonCherie Billingsly, East Cleveland School Board Member Dr. Mary Rice, and Maria Solomon, the organization's treasurer.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and Black blog, both also top in Black digital news in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannewsCLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
Comments