Sam Allard / Scene
State Sen. Sandra Williams formally announces her bid for Cleveland Mayor at the Harvard Community Center, (5/3/21).
State Senator Sandra Williams filed petitions Tuesday morning at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, becoming the first 2021 candidate for Cleveland Mayor to do so.
Williams' campaign confirmed to Scene that Williams filed nearly 5,000 signatures, (a good deal more than the 3,000 valid signatures required to qualify), which had been gathered by volunteers and a paid circulator who went door to door throughout the city.
"We're thrilled with having gotten our signatures in ahead of anyone else," said Williams' senior campaign consultant, Alan Malamed, in a phone interview. "But even more than that, we're happy to have gathered them from across Cleveland. East, South, West: Wherever the voters are, that's where we'll be. And that's an indication of how we're running this campaign."
Williams has garnered support from her Democratic colleagues at the Ohio Statehouse and has touted, in early campaign appearances, both her professional experience, (she is a veteran state legislator who has brought dollars to Northeast Ohio), and her personal identity (she would be only the second woman and first Black woman to serve as Mayor of Cleveland.)
Her key role in the passage and amendment of HB6, the corrupt nuclear bailout of FirstEnergy, is the dark mark on her candidacy.
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