Both Columbus City Council candidates Tiara Ross and Jesse Vogel have claimed the "progressive" mantle that is used by left-leaning Democrats who don't identify with the moderate wing of their party.
More and more Democrats have been embracing the label since U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders first ran for president. The term is often associated with Sanders and Democratic candidates who align with Democratic Socialist ideas such as New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and newly-minted Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Ross and Vogel have both used the word to describe themselves at a time when Democrats are debating whether to appeal to moderate voters or move left. Mamdani's victory in the June primary is making many Democrats question whether the party is moving to the left, after it embraced the center and tried to attract Republican voters like former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney in the 2024 presidential race.
Kate Curry-Da-Souza, an independent candidate, did not advance in the primary against Ross and Vogel. The race was a non-partisan primary, but Vogel and Ross have been explicit about calling themselves Democrats.
The Franklin County Democratic Party plans to vote on whether to endorse a candidate in the Columbus City Council District 7 race Tuesday evening. The ideological direction the party wants to take could become a point of debate.
Vogel's campaign, after Mamdani's victory, put out a lot of messaging on social media about how Mamdani's campaign was similar to his, and can translate to Columbus. He also fundraised after Mamdani's victory.
Vogel said he doesn't take on the Democratic Socialist label himself.
"I'm a Democrat and have been my whole life, and I appreciate the activism and advocacy of folks to the left of the Democratic Party in pushing for what we all know we need," Vogel said. "Which is that the city work for working people...that we have housing we can afford...that we're not selling off housing to speculative investors....that we have access to education and pre-K and child care."
Vogel said sometimes those things get labeled as "socialist," but he thinks it is just what people want.
"The approach that I've taken throughout my work has been to try to build coalition with advocates and working people who want to see something different in government, who don't always just toe the line of what a party tells them to do," Vogel said.
Ross, who has the backing of almost all of Columbus' elected officials, says being progressive should primarily focus on housing affordability, but also building the infrastructure for people to not have to struggle to meet their needs every day.
"Being a progressive candidate means putting people first. It means making sure that the needs of everybody in our community are met," Ross said.
Ross framed her belief around "doing the work of the people."
Vogel and Ross agreed on affordability being a focus of a progressive candidate, but Vogel said it's also about fighting for equal rights and working people and fighting back against attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion. Vogel said progressives don't always agree with the Democratic Party.
Vogel's campaign on social media argued Mamdani's success against an establishment candidate like former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had similarities to his own race.
Cuomo, prior to running for NYC mayor, was accused of sexual harassment and largely criticized for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ross had her own issues surface before the city council primary race began taking shape. Ross accumulated more than $3,000 in unpaid parking tickets and drove on a suspended license. She has since rectified those issues and paid off her tickets.
Cuomo also brought a war chest with him from years as a career politician, while Mamdani raised his money largely from individual donors.
By comparison, Ross' campaign chest was flooded with donations from City Attorney Zach Klein and Mayor Andrew Ginther along with even more money in in-kind contributions from multiple city councilmembers.
Vogel raised the most money from individual donors before May's primary. A lot of his campaign funds came from donors outside Columbus, but he still raised the most from donors within the city compared to his opponents.
Vogel also won support from the progressive Working Families Party, which endorses candidates like Mamdani who lean to the left of the Democratic establishment. He was also endorsed by former U.S. Senate and congressional candidate Morgan Harper, who ran unsuccessful campaigns to the left of U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty and former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan in past primaries.
Ross wants the Franklin County Democrats to endorse her on Tuesday. Vogel wants the county party to sit out the election, letting the two candidates campaign without the county party's influence.
The meeting will be held Tuesday at the IBEW Local 683 Hall on Goodale Boulevard at 6 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, but only committee members can vote on the endorsement.
