The Ohio Democratic Party endorsed its candidates for governor and U.S. Senate this weekend, almost ten months after the Ohio Republican Party announced its choices for those positions.
The ODP Executive Committee voted to endorse Dr. Amy Acton for governor and former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in his bid for a return to that office.
The vote wasn't unanimous, but nearly so. Susan Haas of Licking County was the sole vote against the endorsements.
“Endorsement in contested primaries is one of the number one thing turning voters off contested primaries," Haas said.
But Haas said she personally supports the candidates. She said many in the party just don't like the idea of endorsing candidates ahead of primaries and would strongly prefer to allow those contests to play out without intervention.
“There were a lot of questions about whether we would endorse, would we endorse, and it’s just a showing of how we didn’t have a divisive primary," said ODP chair Kathleen Clyde. "Our party is really united behind our top of the ticket candidates and we wanted to show that support.”
The executive committee also endorsed Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner, who has no opposition. Brunner is the only Democrat elected to statewide office in Ohio, and is likely to face a tough campaign against the winner of the four-way Republican primary in May.
Clyde said the decision to endorse came after some thought, but most people in the party she spoke to wanted to show support for Acton and Brown since neither has significant opposition.
“We respect the will of the voters and the Democratic process and didn’t do an early endorsement to try to strongarm any candidates out of the race or try to put our thumb on the scale," Clyde said.
Clyde said more endorsements could be forthcoming in other statewide positions. There will be Democratic primaries for secretary of state and attorney general in May.
The ORP endorsed businessman Vivek Ramaswamy for governor and U.S. Sen. Jon Husted last May. The party's endorsement of Ramaswamy came just days before Attorney General Dave Yost dropped out of the race for governor. Ramaswamy is set to face automotive designer Casey Putsch in the May primary, while Husted has no Republican opponents.
In response to news that the ODP had endorsed Acton and Brown, ORP Content and Communications Director Nick Johnson said, "An endorsement from the Ohio Democratic Party is as useful as a snowblower in July."
