The Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, the grassroots political organization that grew out of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign locally, has announced its endorsement of Justin Bibb in the 2021 Cleveland mayor’s race.
The Progressive Caucus did not endorse in the primary election — no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote by CCPC’s membership — and in the general, CCPC said that its recent vote was merely to endorse Bibb or not to endorse him. Kevin Kelley did not return the endorsement application and candidate questionnaire and was therefore not considered.
“Even if he had returned the application and questionnaire, the vote likely would have been the same,” said CCPC’s Political Director, Steve Holecko, in a statement. “For progressives, the Cleveland mayor’s race is now a clear choice between a candidate with a progressive vision and a candidate who has repeatedly sought to silence the voices of Cleveland citizens to protect the interests of his corporate donors.
“Justin Bibb offers progressives, and hopefully the majority of Clevelanders, a vision for hope and change as opposed to the same old stagnant politics that Kelley offers.”
The Progressive Caucus was a major player in the signature-gathering effort for the Q Deal Referendum and was part of the CLASH coalition that sought to get a lead-safe ordinance on the ballot. Kelley was instrumental in quashing and reshaping those efforts, respectively.
Justin Bibb and Kevin Kelley were the top two vote-getters in the September primary. They’ll go head to head on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
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This article appears in Sep 22 – Oct 5, 2021.
