Cuyahoga County Democrats will take a do-over endorsement vote in a Cleveland City Council race after the party sent candidates the wrong meeting time.
Last week, executive committee members in Ward 7 voted to endorse Austin Davis for the open council seat. Another candidate, Mohammad Faraj, was in attendance at the 6 p.m. meeting. Candidate Mike Rogalski didn’t arrive until after the vote.
It turned out that the party had mistakenly told candidates the meeting started at 7 p.m., then sent out the revised time of 6 p.m., according to party chair David Brock. But the email to Rogalski bounced back, he said.
Brock said he talked to the party’s lawyers and will hold the endorsement vote again.
“I could either correct a wrong or double down on it, and I don’t like doubling down on wrongs,” Brock told Weekly Chatter. Staying on the Democratic message, he added, “because that’s what Republicans do.”
Winning the Democratic endorsement gives candidates more than just bragging rights. Through the party’s campaign mailing program, endorsed candidates can save money on postage. Their names are also included in the “sample ballot,” the list of candidates with the party’s nod.
Davis won the votes of 15 of the 17 Democratic executive committee members this week. The other two members at the meeting abstained. He celebrated the vote in a social media post, writing “As a lifelong Democrat, this means the world to me.”
The new ward covers the neighborhoods of Detroit-Shoreway, Ohio City, Tremont and part of downtown. It’s an open seat because incumbents Kerry McCormack and Jenny Spencer are not seeking reelection.
In his answers to the party’s endorsement questionnaire, Faraj wrote that he’d be honored to receive votes from the executive committee — but given that this is the first open race in the area in decades, the party should not endorse a candidate.
“While I greatly respect the work members of the Executive Committee have done for the Democratic Party, I think now is the time for those opposed to the rise in fascism to focus less on endorsements and more on connecting with residents,” he wrote.
The party scheduled a new endorsement vote for Aug. 4. Rogalski said he plans to attend.
“Will the vote outcome be different?” he said. “I obviously think I can obtain more abstentions, I just don’t know if it will be enough to prevent Austin’s endorsement.”
More Cleveland campaign chatter
Other Dem endorsements: Local Democrats gave their stamp of approval to two other City Council candidates this week. Kris Harsh, the incumbent council member in Old Brooklyn, won the endorsement in the new Ward 4. In the new Ward 11 on the West Side, the endorsement went to Nikki Hudson.
Labor’s love not lost: Organized labor has been picking its favorite council candidates, too. We’ve noted some endorsements in the past, but here are some that haven’t gotten a mention yet:
Stephanie Howse-Jones, the incumbent in Cleveland City Council’s new Ward 8, won the backing of the North Shore AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union Local 1.
The North Shore AFL-CIO, an umbrella group for labor in Cleveland, is also backing Danny Kelly in Ward 12, Kris Harsh in Ward 4 and Justin Bibb for mayor.
Cash counter: Candidates have less than two weeks to tell the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections how much money they’ve raised and spent this year.
The deadline is July 31. The campaign financial disclosures cover the first six months of 2025.
The filings will tell us who is paying for local candidates’ campaigns and how they’re spending that money. We’ll also see which council candidates are bringing in bigger checks after council hiked contribution limits last year.
