Nina Turner's Campaign Gets a Boost From the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC

By Akela Lacy, The Intercept

24 March 21

The CPC has been taking a more active role in contested Democratic primaries since the last election cycle.

he Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC has endorsed Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator and co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, for Congress.

Turner’s campaign to replace former Rep. Marcia Fudge, who was recently confirmed as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has so far gained the most traction among the Democratic candidates in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District. In addition to a number of high-profile endorsements, she raised more than $1 million during the first few months of her campaign.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC has endorsed Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator and co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, for Congress.

Turner’s campaign to replace former Rep. Marcia Fudge, who was recently confirmed as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has so far gained the most traction among the Democratic candidates in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District. In addition to a number of high-profile endorsements, she raised more than $1 million during the first few months of her campaign.

Turner started thinking about running for the seat in 2008, she told The Intercept. If elected, she plans to help the caucus continue growing its power, pushing the same policies she’s platforming in her “opportunity agenda,” which focuses on improving conditions for working people, women, and people of color.

Turner’s campaign has also been backed by a number of union groups and local organizations, including the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union Local 19, which was the first union to endorse her, the Amalgamated Transit Union, and the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters. “That momentum that we are building is connected to something,” Turner said. “This is not just happening out of nowhere.”

One of Turner’s opponents in the Democratic primary, Shontel Brown, leads the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and had Fudge’s support when she ran for that position. Brown has backing from a number of local elected officials and unions, including Rep. Joyce Beatty; the International Union of Painter and Allied Trades; the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers, or SMART; Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan; and Ohio state Reps. Kent Smith and Terrence Upchurch. Brown is also backed by the PAC for the Democratic Majority for Israel, a pro-Israel political organization that seeks to suppress criticism of Israel from progressives by targeting primary challenges against pro-Israel officials. DMFI PAC endorsed Brown in February and has attacked Turner for helping to “lead the unsuccessful effort to make the Democratic platform less pro-Israel.”

Brown has raised $500,000 to date, according to her campaign. Meanwhile, state Sen. Jeff Johnson, who is also running for the seat, had raised $5,700 as of December 31, according to FEC records. Other people are exploring bids as well.

The congressional seat will remain vacant until a special election takes place in November. Primary elections for the 11th District take place in August.