The Congressional Progressive Caucus, composed of the most liberal House members, decided against endorsing a darling of Sen. Bernie Sanders running for an Ohio seat, instead endorsing incumbent Rep. Shontel Brown.
Nina Turner, who ran unsuccessfully against Brown in a 2021 special election for Ohio’s 11th District in the Cleveland area, did not get the seal of approval from the progressive coalition. Instead, it stuck with convention to endorse Brown, a member of the caucus. Sanders, also a member of the caucus, endorsed Turner on Wednesday.
“We’re proud to support and endorse this group of bold, progressive leaders that are fighting for working people in their communities and across the country,” Reps. Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, and Jamie Raskin, the CPC political action committee co-chairs, said in a statement. “Each and every one of them is working every day to take on corporate special interests, fight for economic and social justice, universal health care, climate action, and bold solutions to the urgent crises facing our country.”
THE SECRET TO DEFEATING A NATIONALLY-BACKED, WELL-FINANCED, PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE
Turner heads Bernie Sanders’s grassroots organization Our Revolution and was co-chairwoman of his 2020 presidential campaign. She was projected to be a front-runner in the Democratic primary against Brown in 2021, but her high-profile endorsements from members of the Squad and bursting coffers couldn’t best Brown’s deep local connections and more centrist positions.
Turner blamed an influx of “evil money” for her failed bid last year.
“I am going to work hard to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen to a progressive candidate again,” she said in her concession speech. “We didn’t lose this race. Evil money manipulated and maligned this election.”
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The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday also endorsed four House candidates running for open seats in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland, and California.
