Former Garfield Heights councilwoman named to vacant Ohio House District 11 seat
Shayla Davis, hand raised and surrounded by family and friends, is sworn in on the floor of the Ohio House of Representatives by Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals Judge Anita Laster Mays. Photo courtesy of R. Trojanski
Shayla Davis, the former Garfield Heights councilwoman who lost her bid for that city’s mayor’s seat in November, has been selected to fill the state representative seat previously held by Stephanie Howse. Howse resigned the seat after she was elected to Cleveland City Council three months ago.
Davis was sworn in yesterday afternoon. She will serve out the balance of the term which ends December 31, 2022.
The mess that Republican gerrymandering has created this year affected the filling of this vacancy, which was the decision of the House Democratic Caucus. State Senator Sandra Williams, who is term-limited, wants to return to the House, where she served from 2007 through 2014. She was originally expected to accept a nod from the caucus to replace Howse and leave her Senate seat early. But she told RDP that she was concerned about the uncertain boundaries of the new House districts, so she declined the caucus offer and will serve out the balance of her term. Williams has filed to run in the May primary for a full term in the House; while the contours of the district she ultimately runs in have yet to be finalized, they are most likely to be fully within her current Senate district.
Williams said she recommended Davis for the Howse house seat. For her part, Davis, who singled out Williams for thanks during her initial remarks on the floor today, told us that she will NOT be a candidate for the full term if her district turns out to be the one Williams is running in. When and how that issue gets resolved is anybody’s guess. [See the next section].
Davis may prove to be Cuyahoga County’s most energetic representative. Within 30 minutes of her swearing in, she sent a letter to her new constituents announcing her appointment and pledging to work hard. She expects to get her new committee assignments sometime today.
Redistricting Commission meets today, at the deadline to submit new state legislative maps
Today is the deadline set by the Ohio Supreme Court for the Ohio Redistricting Commission to submit a third set of state legislative maps, the Court having struck down the first two sets as unconstitutional.
The disdain the commission’s Republican majority feel for their assignment is evident in their waiting until the last possible day to hold a hearing, which is scheduled for 1:30pm this afternoon in the Ohio House Finance Hearing Room (Room 313) at the Statehouse. The meeting agenda is unknown, less than 24 hours before the hearing, but the word is no public testimony will be accepted.
Yesterday the panel’s two Democrats, ORC co-chair Sen. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and House Minority Leader and Commission member Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) sent a letter to the Republican members of the Commission requesting feedback on their state legislative map proposal by 9 a.m. today.
The letter was sent with an updated pair of state legislative maps that moved eight census blocks from one district to another. The Democrats' proposal was originally filed with the Ohio Supreme Court on January 28 and was uploaded to the Ohio Redistricting Commission website and presented to the press last week. According to Sykes and Russo, the latest updates do not affect proportionality and their proposal complies with the line-drawing rules and proportionality rules in the Constitution and the Court's orders.
"The Court has given the Redistricting Commission clear orders to adopt constitutional maps. If you have map proposals, we urge you to release those as soon as possible so the public and Commissioners will be able to provide feedback," Sykes and Russo wrote. "It is possible for us to draw constitutional maps and for us to work together as the Court has directed us to do. In fact, our proposal before the Commission has created constitutional state legislative maps."
A full copy of the letter can be found here. Democrats' Senate district proposal can be found here. Their House district proposal can be found here.
By running out the clock, GOP members of the Commission have once again guaranteed that the map-making process will have zero transparency and likely the same degree of bipartisanship, in continued defiance of the express wishes of Ohio voters, as expressed in two statewide votes in 2015 and 2018.
You can watch the proceedings on the Ohio Channel.
President Biden in town today, sort of
President Joe Biden is scheduled to arrive at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport tomorrow at 10:40a.m. He will speak with reporters before heading to the Lorain shipyards where he will deliver remarks on the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that provides funds for rebuilding roads and bridges, upgrading water systems, and cleaning up the environment, creating good-paying, union jobs along the way.
The President is scheduled to speak at 12:15pm. Ninety minutes later he is expected to be back on board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews [no relation].
Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters seized the opportunity of the President’s brief visit to issue a statement reminding Ohio voters that “President Biden's first year was the greatest year of job creation in US history, ever, [and that] with the help of Ohio's Democratic delegation in Congress -- President Biden is bringing billions of dollars to Ohio to invest in infrastructure projects across the state [in] the largest infrastructure investment in our nation's history [to] improve Ohio's roads, bridges and public transit, invest in clean drinking water, protect our Great Lakes, and expand reliable access to high-speed internet."
Ohio Dems to Hold virtual executive committee meeting
Today at 6 p.m., the Ohio Democratic Party will hold a virtual meeting of its executive committee to consider endorsements in the Senate, gubernatorial and Supreme Court races ahead of the upcoming primary election.
The committee is not expected to endorse a candidate in the gubernatorial race, a contest that pits former Cincinnati mayor John Cranley against former Dayton mayor Nan Whaley. The party’s other contested statewide primary is for the US Senate nomination, with attorney Morgan Harper, IT executive Traci Johnson — both from Franklin County — and Congressman Tim Ryan of Youngstown are seeking the nomination.
The committee will meet again in March to consider endorsements in the other statewide races.
The meeting can be watched live on the party’s Facebook page HERE.
Secretary of State announces statewide candidates for Ohio’s May 3 Primary Election ballot
The Ohio Secretary of State’s office today released the list of statewide candidates whose filings have been verified by Ohio’s county boards of elections and who are therefore currently eligible to appear on the May 3 primary ballot.
The list below includes only those candidates who will be running statewide. General Assembly candidates do not file with the Secretary of State’s office but with the board of elections in the most populous county in the district they choose to run in.
The following candidates are eligible for the May 3, 2022 primary election ballot:
Senate
Republican: Matt Dolan, Mike Gibbons, Josh Mandel, Neil Patel, Mark Pukita, Jane Timken, JD Vance
Democrat: Morgan Harper, Tracy TJ Johnson, Tim Ryan
Ohio Governor
Republican: Joe Blystone, Mike DeWine, Ron Hood, Jim Renacci
Democrat: John Cranley, Nan Whaley
Ohio Attorney General
Republican: Dave Yost
Democrat: Jeff Crossman
Ohio Auditor
Republican: Keith Faber
Democrat: Taylor Sappington
Ohio Secretary of State
Republican: John Adams, Frank LaRose
Democrat: Chelsea Clark
Ohio Treasurer
Republican: Robert Sprague
Democrat: Scott Schertzer
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice
Republican: Sharon Kennedy
Democrat: Jennifer Brunner
Ohio Supreme Court Justice
Republican: Pat DeWine, Pat Fischer
Democrat: Terri Jamison, Marilyn Zayas
11th District Tele Town Hall
This Thursday, February 17, from 6-7 PM, Congresswoman Shontel Brown will host a telephone town hall about what's happening in Ohio's 11th Congressional District and answering your important questions.
Register here for the telephone town hall, or call (833) 946-1546 at the beginning of the town hall to join.
U.S. Senate Candidates Morgan Harper (D) and Josh Mandel (R) agree to second debate in Cleveland next week
Two candidates for the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio, Morgan Harper (D) and Josh Mandel (R), will participate in a debate next week at the City-God Baptist Fellowship Church in Cleveland’s Collinwood area.
This will be the second debate between Harper and Mandel following one that took place last month in Columbus. The first debate was reported here.
The debate will take place Monday, February 21 at 7:30pm at City-God Baptist Fellowship, 742 East 152 St [44110].
Details regarding streaming and who will join Jeff Brown as moderator will be announced later.
Boost for Timken
Retiring US Senator Rob Portman endorsed former Ohio GOP chair Jane Timken to succeed him. Outside of Donald Trump, this was likely the most coveted endorsement that bitter primary will see. Still, it's doubtful that the Senator's nod will give Timken a huge boost in a race.
Cranley campaign brings social justice forum to town
A key pillar of the Cranley-Fedor gubernatorial campaign is its emphasis on social justice. Cranley was a co-founder of the Ohio Innocence Project dedicated to freeing wrongfully convicted people. His running mate, Teresa Fedor, is a leading crusader against human trafficking.
First person accounts illuminating these themes will be offered Monday, February 21 from 5:30p-7p at a campaign forum on social justice that will be held at Holy Trinity Baptist Church, 3808 East 131 Street. [44120].
Democratic veterans group to host virtual event for gubernatorial candidates
The Ohio Democratic Party’s Veterans & Military Community Caucus will host gubernatorial candidates Cranley and Whaley in a virtual event on Tuesday, Feb. 22, from 7:30p-8:45p
Register here to attend.
Fudge consultant starts local podcast
Kenn Dowell, who served as former Congresswoman Marcia Fudge’s political director for the past decade, recently launched a new podcast. Based on the first two episodes released thus far, which feature Jacquelyn Chisholm, CEO of Step Forward in Episode 1 and Juvenile Court Judge Michael John Ryan in Episode 2, Dowell will be chatting informally and at length with local political and civic figures.
Politics in the Blood
Former Clevelander Jan Perry is running for Congress in Los Angeles. She is seeking to succeed Rep. Karen Bass, who is leaving Congress to run for mayor of Los Angeles. Perry has a long record of public service, including 12 years on Los Angeles city council. Perry's late parents, Sam Perry and Betty Perry, each had terms as mayor of Woodmere Village.
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