Nina Turner Files Paperwork With FEC, But Has Not Decided If She'll Seek OH-11 Rematch With Shontel Brown in 2022

Nina Turner has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission that allows her campaign committee, Nina Turner for Us, to continue operations.

While the "Statement of Candidacy" filing could be seen as a signal that Turner intends to seek a re-match with Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown for the OH-11 congressional seat in 2022, a former Turner campaign aide told Scene that filing the paperwork was merely a "procedural move" that had been recommended by Turner's compliance team.

"Nina has not made any decision," the former aide said. "She had a couple of options in terms of what to do with the committee, and the easiest and most flexible is to keep it open. It would would be lightest lift in terms of finances and staffing if she does run again."

Turner lost to Brown in the August special election to replace outgoing Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who was appointed as President Joe Biden's Secretary of the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Despite nationwide name recognition and a sizeable early fundraising lead, Turner lost to Brown after a wave of negative advertising and strong turnouts in Cleveland's heavily Jewish east side suburbs tipped the scales in Brown's favor. The election was one of the most costly and divisive primaries in recent Ohio memory. 

After her defeat, Turner promised an announcement of her next steps in the coming weeks. She has yet to publicly announce that she will challenge Brown, but continues to be active politically: donating to candidates and causes, delivering speeches on issues of importance to the poor  and working class, etc. The FEC filing keeps her committee open if she does indeed decide to run in OH-11 once again.

Shontel Brown, of course, still must to defeat her Republican challenger, Laverne Jones-Gore, in the November general. But the Democratic Primary is considered the deciding race in OH-11, a majority African-American district in what is still Ohio's Democratic stronghold.

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