Democrat Shontel Brown is Ohio's new congresswoman to replace former congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who vacated the post in March to become HUD secretary with the Biden administration....Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district includes Cleveland....Congresswoman Brown will be sworn in on November 4 by U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur.... By associate publisher and editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

 

 Congresswoman-Elect Shontel Brown, a Democrat and the winner of  the general election on Tues, Nov. 2 as to the open seat in Ohio's 11th congressional district, which includes most of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County, a largely Black pocket of Akron, and staggering sections of Akron's Summit County suburbs

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELAND, OHIO – Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown, the Democratic nominee to replace Marcia Fudge in Congress representing Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district, cruised to victory Tuesday night against Republican nominee Lavern Gore.

A Warrensville Heights Democrat, Brown won with 80 percent of the vote compared to Jones'  20 percent, unofficial results of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections reveal. 

"I ran this race like I had nothing to lose and everything to win for the people," the congresswoman-elect told reporters at her election night watch party at the Marriott in Warrensville Heights, a primarily Black Cleveland suburb. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Brown also released the following statement as to her win on election night:

"Thank you to the voters for your confidence in electing me as your next congressperson. Today's victory would not have been possible without the help of so many allies and volunteers who care about our community. I am committed to going to Washington as a unifier, and will work with President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress to lead a swift health and economic recovery from the pandemic for Ohioans. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. This has been an amazing journey— now the real work begins. Thank you Northeast Ohio."

Also chairwoman of the county Democratic party, Brown emerged as the winner among a crowded field of candidates competing in a special Democratic primary election held in  August to replace Fudge, handily defeating her 12 opponents, including Nina Turner, the well-financed front-runner and a former Ohio senator who last year co-chaired the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Brown, 46,  beat Turner, 53,  50 percent to Turner's 44 percent in the primary, a contentious battle and multi-million dollar congressional campaign that saw the more moderate wing of the Democratic party rallying behind Brown with the progressive faction of the party backing Turner. 

She is one of two new congress persons from Ohio along with Mike Carey, who also won a special election Tuesday and will represent Ohio's 15th congressional district in Congress. Carey  is a former Ohio coal industry lobbyist who also served as a vice president at the Murray Energy coal company. He is a Republican who replaces Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, who left Congress in May to head the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. 

Of the 16 members of the  U.S. House of Representative 12 are Republican and four are Democrats. Brown and Reps Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Tim Ryan of Niles, and Joyce Beatty a Columbus Democrat and president of the Congressional Black Caucus. Brown and Carey will be sworn in on Thursday on Washington D.C. by Rep Kaptur, the longest serving woman in the House of Representatives and whose ninth congressional district extends to Cleveland. 

Brown is the men-tee of Fudge, who vacated the congressional seat in March to become U.S. secretary of housing and urban development and all but named Brown as her replacement. She must run for reelection next year via a recon-structured congressional district with Turner a probable candidate for the seat too, among others.

She is the fourth Black to lead the 11th congressional district behind Louis Stokes, Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Fudge, respectively, and the third Black woman to hold the powerful post. 

One of two of Ohio's 16 congressional districts crafted under the redistricting provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, Ohio's 11th congressional district includes most of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County and a majority Black pocket of Akron and staggering sections of Akron's Summit County suburbs. 

Both Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are Democratic strongholds. 

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news in Ohio. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

By Kathy Wray Coleman. Coleman is a former public school biology teacher and a Black political and investigative reporter who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio