U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s reelection effort has a special message for Ukrainian-speaking Ohio voters. His campaign paid for flyers highlighting his support for the Eastern European country as it fights Russia’s invasion. One side of the flier is in Ukrainian and the reverse side is in English.
The literature notes that Brown, a vice chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, backed this year’s $61 billion aid package for the country and earmarked $500,000 for Cleveland’s Ukrainian museum. (The caucus was co-founded by Brown’s former Senate Republican counterpart, Rob Portman.)
Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chair David Brock said he is distributing the literature in Parma voting precincts that are home to many Ukrainian Americans.
Even though the 2024 race has been dominated by nonstop ads on streaming services and broadcast TV, there’s still room for old-school, analog targeted messaging.
Voter bus ads make RTA blush
An ad campaign that passed muster with ministers and rabbis is too racy for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. The public transportation agency rejected Greater Cleveland Congregations’ request to buy bus ads to promote the interfaith coalition’s “Voter Virginity” effort, according to GCC staffers.
The campaign targets first-time voters in Cleveland neighborhoods and some inner-ring suburbs where turnout is typically low. The ads include slogans like “Make your first time count” and “It’s natural to be nervous.”
“Voter Virginity is about bringing some much-needed joy into the depressing world of politics,” said DeMario Steele, a GCC intern and one of the young activists who helped plan the campaign, at a kickoff event in September. “Voter Virginity is about giving first time voters a reason to be excited.”
RTA spokesman Robert Fleig told Signal Cleveland that the ads violate the authority’s policy against “any advertisement which contains material that incites, describes, depicts, or represents sexual activities or images or descriptions of human sexuality or anatomy in a way that could diminish the Authority’s reputation in the community or the goodwill of its passengers.”
In the words of one GCC member, Vikki Jackson, the cheeky theme is “risky,” but “desperate times call for bold measures.”
Remembering Cleveland’s levy leader
Cleveland’s political world spent the week mourning the death of campaign strategist Bill Burges, who long helped levies and candidates sail to victory in Ohio.
Burges, 77, died unexpectedly on Oct. 27 while walking his dog.
He started the political consulting firm Burges and Burges with his wife, Charlene, who died in 2023. The company worked with the campaigns of Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, to name just two recent clients.
Ryan Puente, a top City Hall aide who managed Bibb’s 2021 mayoral campaign, coauthored a remembrance this week with Burges and Burges President Vanessa Tey Iosue.
“In a poignant twist of fate, Bill concluded his storied career much like he began it — leading this year’s Cleveland Schools levy campaign,” they wrote for Cleveland.com. “This full-circle moment epitomized his unwavering commitment to education and opportunity, illustrating the depth of his dedication throughout his life.”