The November election is a long way off, but the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party says it has something to celebrate already. 

The party’s recent annual dinner raised a record haul of more than $220,000 (minus expenses, of course), which edged out the previous record set in 2013, local party chair David Brock told Signal. 

Around 500 people attended the event at the InterContinental Cleveland Hotel, one of the few hotels in town with unionized workers. The event featured U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, whose re-election bid this year is one of the most closely watched in the country. The dinner also welcomed back into the political fold former U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, who recently stepped down as President Biden’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

Brock said the party is on relatively strong financial footing as it prepares for the critical election in November. He said the latest financial reports, which will be filed next week, show the party has about $300,000 on hand. He credited fundraiser Kimberly Padilla of Bellwether Strategies. He also said that the former party chair, U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, left the party coffers with a healthy balance. 

Brock was elected by party members in 2022. The position is unpaid, but, as a candidate, he urged the party to consider turning the job into a paid one to strengthen the role and the party’s operations. While the organization now has some money in the bank, it has not yet committed to converting the job. 

Brock said the party’s attention is on reaching “infrequent voters,” and the recent money raised will support that mission.

“It shows we are getting more people involved in the party, and I think it is sinking in that we are trying to broaden our reach, not just to donors but to voters,” he said. “Nothing is free in politics.”