Antonio, of Lakewood, currently serves as a State Rep, but is term-limited and is running for the seat held by the term-limited Mike Skindell (who’s running for Antonio’s State Rep seat).
Sweeney has stepped aside from his State Rep seat to make room for his daughter, the Columbus resident Bride Sweeney whose local candidacy was nevertheless validated by a court on the strength of her desire to return home, and the ongoing presence of her toiletries at her dad’s house.
The editorial board endorsed Antonio thus:
“Antonio, of Lakewood, is the superior choice. She is known as one of the hardest-working members of the legislature, and has been effective in working across the aisle, most notably in successfully co-sponsoring a law to open adoption records in Ohio and in her work on LGBT anti-discrimination legislation.”
The endorsement mentions that Sweeney wasn’t even present for the interview. He was interviewed “separately by telephone in an interview that was not recorded,” the piece said.
In the audio of the interview, Editorial Board director Elizabeth Sullivan tells Antonio that Sweeney informed her the previous Friday that he would not be participating. She encourages Antonio to “put issues on the table” that Sweeney might raise in a later private phone call.
The Friday that Sweeney informed Sullivan he wouldn’t be participating was one day after a tense Q&A at the Lakewood Democratic Club, in which an attendee asked him to comment on sexual harassment. (An initial question, directed to Antonio, clearly intended to confront Sweeney, on whose behalf the City of Cleveland settled a case of sexual misconduct with taxpayer money in 2007.) Sweeney likely wasn’t interested in dealing with those questions in front of the editorial board.
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2018.
These two, Antonio and Skindell, are switching seats because of term limits. Is this a joke? Modern politics is being played by these people who jump positions and thereby maintain these careers in politics. They don’t train others to lead after them and they’re inept at most things except playing the election game which leads us all to suffer under the status quo.
New politicians please.
Nickie Antonio has been an incredible representative. She listens to her constituents and advocates for issues important to us. She is one of the hardest working members of the House of Representatives. Antonio is respected by her peers, often working across the isle to get things done, and has secured millions of dollars for Northeast Ohio through several capital project budgets as a member of the Finance committee. By running for state senate, she is basically applying for a promotion, which is well deserved. She’s never been in the senate before, so this will be a new position for her, and her experience and proven track record in the house has prepared her for it. Skindell on the other hand is basically applying to return to his old position, so “Career Politician”, your argument about playing games with term limits would be more applicable for him, though he is within his rights to run.