John Cranley of Cincinnati and Nan Whaley of Dayton, friends and former mayoral colleagues from southern Ohio, seem like two trains chugging along parallel tracks as they compete in this year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Today, each is crisscrossing the state to announce and introduce their running mates.
Cranley started this morning in Toledo, hometown of State Senator Teresa Fedor, his choice for Lieutenant Governor. They will appear next at the City Club of Cleveland at 11:30a today, and then head to Columbus for a scheduled mid-afternoon rinse and repeat. Tomorrow, the duo has events scheduled in Cincinnati and Dayton.
That two-day itinerary, by the way, suggests the challenge of running statewide in Ohio. Even though Ohio is compact geographically, it is the nation’s seventh most populous state with at least eight major metropolitan markets where candidates must make themselves known. Yet the relatively low voter turnout in most of these cities means that the more rural areas dominate the state’s politics, giving the state a parochial focus that contributes to big-city impoverishment and retards overall development.
Whaley will also be in town today, in the home city of her running mate, former Cleveland Heights mayor Cheryl Stephens. Whaley’s camp announced her selection of Stephens this morning.
Stephens is currently vice president of Cuyahoga County Council, representing District 10, comprising Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, etc. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation (EANDC) where she has focused on building affordable housing. She grew up as a military brat, moving across the country and around the world with the fortunes of her father’s Air Force career, which eventually brought the family to Ohio where he retired to Wright Patterson Air Force Base outside of Dayton.
Whaley and Stephens will appear at Boss Dog Brewing Co., 2179 Lee Rd. [44118] at 6p tonight.
Cranley’s running mate, Fedor is best known politically for her staunch stands on human trafficking, a woman’s right to choose, and her demands for accountability in Ohio’s charter school schemes.
Born in 1956 as the second eldest of an eventual seven children, she joined the military after graduating from high school. She served in the U.S. Air Force from 1975-1978 and the Ohio Air National Guard from 1980-1983. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Toledo and became a kindergarten teacher in Toledo Public Schools.
Fedor first joined the state legislature in 2002 as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Today, she represents Lucas County in Ohio's 11th Senate District.
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Warrensville Heights mayor Brad Sellers will formally announce his candidacy for Cuyahoga County Executive at 1:30p today via Zoom. You can watch here [passcode 530962] or listen via one-tap mobile [ +19292056099,,82781845042#,,,,*530962# or +13017158592,,82781845042#,,,,*530962#].
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