As always with a primary, you will be asked to choose a party (or issues only) ballot and that will be how you will be registered until the next primary, but it does not determine how you must vote in any upcoming election. This election will determine which Republican candidates will run and which Democrat candidates will run against each other in November, at which time you are free to vote for the candidate that you think is best in each office. Only the winner in November will actually take the seat, however, the demographics are such that it is often already known which party will win in November making this primary the chance to choose the best candidate within that party and therefore decide who will be seated in November. That’s why this race is so important. Remembering that the smaller the race, the bigger the impact our community commands and that in Cuyahoga County it’s been decades since a Republican won a county wide race, I am recommending strongly that everyone take a Democrat Ballot. Here’s why.
The presidential candidates are already decided. I am not a Navi nor closely related to a Navi, but all the pundits, commentators and my insiders are saying the same thing. Barring something unforeseen, these will be our candidates and nothing we do on Tuesday the 19th will impact this. Not even a protest vote. If the race is not Biden vs Trump, it will be for some other factor.
What about the Senate race you ask? Is that not a reason to vote Republican? Not so fast. There is only one candidate on the Democrat side. There are three on the Republican one. The general feeling is that any of them have the capacity to beat the incumbent Sherrod Brown and are all equally viable. Within the Republican party there is talk about who is more establishment (LaRose, highest name recognition) and who is more on the Trump Train (Moreno, endorsed also by Jim Jordan), and who speaks to the middle (Dolan, endorsed by Portman and Gov. Dewine) but all of them have the one quality we look for – they know us and we know them and the feelings are mutually supportive. Polls show Dolan and Moreno in that order fairly close followed by LaRose. From a community stand point, we will do equally well with any of them. So pulling a Republican ballot does not give us a gain. Some of the down ballot candidates are write-in candidates, but none will win in November anyway. Not in this county.
But there IS a significant down ballot race on the Democrat side where we have a lot to lose. [Read more…]