Ohio Democrats are preparing to choose the leader they hope will turn the deepening red tide in a state that hasn’t been blue since 2012.
With the party’s executive committee preparing for a Thursday vote on the next party chair, Summit County Councilwoman Liz Walters has emerged as the front-runner for the job.
She locked down a key public endorsement from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. Walters also is getting support from organized labor leaders who hold major sway with committee members. Several groups representing young Democrats said Tuesday they are backing her as well.
But Columbus political consultant Antoinette Wilson, who most recently engineered Jennifer Brunner’s successful campaign for Ohio Supreme Court justice, is pulling her own support, including from the head of the county party chairs association.
Antoinette Wilson (top) and Liz Walters (bottom)
Ohio Democrats are set to pick their new party chair Thursday. And party insiders are starting to rally around two of their six choices.
Former Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper resigned at the end of last month, saying it was time for a new leader to take over the helm. Pepper had held that post for five years.
The new chair will have to figure out new strategies for winning in Ohio. The party has not won a single, non-judicial statewide seat for more than a decade. And in the most recent election, Ohio re-elected President Donald Trump with a larger margin than in 2016.