ENDORSEMENT: Betty Sutton for 16th Congressional District
If you look at the way the Ohio Republican party gerrymandered the new 16th Congressional District, it was almost custom-designed for Republican Jim Renacci. But it’s not turning out the way they planned.
Starting NW of the Cleveland area, it includes Westlake and North Olmsted, while assiduously avoiding the urbanized areas of Lakewood, West Park, Brook Park, Parma and Berea, then wraps around to grab Parma Heights, Middleburgh Heights, Strongsville and North Royalton, before heading south along Rt. 71 to Medina and Wooster, then capturing the rural areas to the East: Orrville, Rittman, Wadsworth, Canal Fulton, then sliding between the cities of Akron & Canton to capture Uniontown, Mogodore and the areas South of Kent and Ravenna. It’s another Frankenstein district like #9 that Republicans have carved using an Exacto blade, separating urban from the sub- and exurbs. One wonders why Renacci isn’t running away with this election.
The most likely reason is that Renacci’s solidly Right Conservative views (pro-gun, anti-abortion rights, anti-stem cell research, anti-EPA, anti-same-sex marriage…) puts him at odds with the majority of Northern Ohio’s more moderate voters. And while both incumbents in the newly drawn district are new to most voters (New York Times: “Despite Ad Barrage, Two Incumbents Vying for One Seat Still Feel Unheard”), Sutton is serving her third term while Renacci is still a freshman Congressman.
In reality, this endorsement probably means little, since these two candidates are such polar opposites. It’s hard to imagine a voter who hasn’t yet decided which candidate most reflects their views. Of course, that’s not stopping the TV ads, many of which are supported by secret Super-PACs for Renacci and unions for Sutton. In fact, the Cleveland market is second only to Las Vegas this year, inundated with over 65,000 political ads, and the result is disgust and discouragement from many voters. The winner will probably be the one whose supporters hold their nose and actually vote.
Cool Cleveland endorses Betty Sutton for the 16th Congressional District