Another progressive political group is throwing its weight behind a slate of Cleveland City Council candidates.
A Better Cleveland for All endorsed four council contenders this week: Alana Belle in Ward 9, Nikki Hudson in Ward 11, Tanmay Shah in Ward 12 and Council Member Rebecca Maurer in Ward 5. All four candidates also received a nod last week from the Working Families Party, a progressive third party.
In the words of steering committee member Nora Kelley, A Better Cleveland for All is “a grassroots alternative to the unfair influence of wealthy corporate interests.” The political action committee doesn’t accept donations above $1,000.
So don’t expect it to have much money to throw around. The group started the year with more than $25,700 on hand.
A Better Cleveland for All holds itself out as a counterpoint to the Council Leadership Fund, the political action committee run by Council President Blaine Griffin. City Council has long butted heads with progressive groups, from the 2016 fight over mandating a citywide minimum wage to the 2023 vote on a participatory budgeting charter amendment.
There’s perhaps no more hotly fought-over word in Democratic politics than “progressive.” Griffin recently described himself as more politically moderate. But in the past, he has defended City Council as being open to working with progressive groups — for instance, with Guardians for Fair Work on the issue of wage theft.
In a news conference announcing the endorsements, Kelley said that council had taken “pro-worker” steps over the last four years, but it could be doing more, faster.
“If you have a council made up entirely of Democrats, we should be leading on these issues instead of being responsive,” she said.
It’s unlikely that A Better Cleveland for All will be able to match the Council Leadership Fund’s financial firepower. Griffin’s PAC held a fundraiser this week at Nuevo Modern Mexican on the downtown lakefront. A flyer for the event invited donors to give as much as the statutory maximum of $16,615.
