Democrats Not Endorsing Michelle Dillingham Should Not Be a Shock to Anyone

The Cincinnati Democratic Committee has announced their preliminary slate of endorsements for Cincinnati City Council.  One name was "snubbed." This list is not final and could be changed by the committee as a whole, but they shouldn't do that and no one should be shocked. Dillingham has demonstrated she is not inclined to be a team player. Her political positions have become increasingly leftist, only appealing to a smaller and uncompromising group. She would be a risk to hurt the rest of team more than help them. The only upside is past performance.

The angst voiced by some leftist Cincinnati Twitter users is expected, but any objective observer could see this play coming.  There is some risk to it.  There could be a revolt, but pissing off a bunch of leftists who were not going to vote for the full Democratic slate of nine candidates is not going to affect their election chances.

Leftist activists have been mostly pushing either a short ticket voting strategy or just voting for a list of long shots and Dillingham.  What I think is driving the angst is that many thought she would win with an endorsement. She would be the leftist "voice" on council. I think with a Dem endorsement she would likely win.  Without the Dem endorsement, it will be much more difficult.  If she starts running against the Democratic Party or other candidates, she won't help her chances much. If she runs as the Leftist candidate, she won't help herself much, either.

If Leftists did not grasp how the Issue 3 vote went or how the 2020 election went for leftist views, then I don't see how they can be anything other than a loud fringe group, bent on destruction as much has their right wing opposites, willing to bring down everyone for a fantasy.

January City Council Candidates Update

It is officially election year in Cincinnati, Ohio and partisan politics is ripe with the rank Republican spectacle that is Probate Judge Ralph Winkler. The suburbanite judge saw it as his duty to make a partisan pick of Republican Liz Keating to temporarily replace P.G. Sittenfeld who agreed to a suspension while he faces criminal charges. 

A Republican gives a rich kid a leg up in the council race.  Wannabe aristocratic families don't need help from the cheap seats, but if anyone is going to help them out, they can count on a Republican.

The next month or so will be taken up with the 3D chess match taking place with the laundry list of Mayoral Candidates.  This post will stay away from that log jam waiting to happen.

Instead this is the the time starting figuring out how many real candidates are running?  I say "real" with no trepidation.  There are too many candidates and we only need serious candidates who are willing to act like leaders who understand that role of Council members is to govern.  I fear we have an abundance of crackpots and flake candidates who are looking for attention.  I really hope they get out of the race quickly.  I don't have time to bother following those who are less than sane or just out to make a few pithy twitter posts.

The next half of a year is when serious candidates are raising contributions and building up a network of people that give them a conceivable chance of winning.  Going viral is not going to get you elected, so setting up a website that can take campaign contributions is the first sign that people are real candidates.  Just getting on the ballot does not make what I would call a real candidate.

Another rule for candidates: Don't make unforced errors. Council Member Betsy Sundermann had worst timing ever.  You are not going to get elected to Cincinnati Council by enabling Donald Trumps lies, ever with an abstention.

  
Incumbents
Greg Landsman (D)
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D-Appointed)
Jeff Pastor (R Suspended from Office with criminal charges pending)
Betsy Sundermann (R-Appointed)

Temporary Replacement to Council
Steve Goodin (R) (for Pastor's Seat)

Liz Keating (R) (for Sittenfeld's Seat)

Announced Candidates
Jalen Alford (?)
Derek Bauman (D,C)
Key Beck (?)
Derrick Blassingame (R)
Michael Cappel (D)
Britton Carter (D)
Jeff Cramerding (D)
Michelle Dillingham (D)
Ryan DuPree (D)
Christine Fisher (D)
Manuel Foggie (D)
Kevin Flynn (I)
Bill Frost (C)
Brian Garry (D)
Cam Hardy (D,C)
Reggie Harris (D)
Evan Holt (I)
Dani Isaacsohn (D)
James Jenkins (I)
Scotty Johnson (D)
Rayshon Mack (R)
Dale Mallory (D)
Linda Matthews (R)
Meeka Owens (D)
Victoria Parks (D)
Stacey Smith (D)
Dadrien Washington (D)
McKinzie Wright (I)

Prior Candidates Who Might Run
Henry Frondorf (I?)
Kelli Prather (I)
Laure Quinlivan (D)

Rumored Or Speculated Candidates
Becky Finnigan (D)
Jim Neil (?)
Matt Woods (C)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, these references will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot (signatures turned in)
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.

November City Council Candidates Update - Revised

Well, I thought there wouldn't be much action in the council race at this point, but Republican Jeff Pastor was arrested under serious criminal charges involving his office as a member of City Council. Several Local Republicans quickly threw him under the bus.  Too bad those Republicans didn't have the spine to do that to Larry Householder or Trump.  Another group of Republicans, like a certain conservative columnist who is regularly sniffing the butts of conservative Republicans in hopes of landing a full time radio gig, just blames the City in mass for the actions of indivduals.  His regular anti-city rants fit right in with the bigotry rampant within the GOP, who as evidenced by the targeting of cities in their feeble Fascist crusade to try and subvert Democracy in America, are just blowing dog whistles for racists.

So, we'll have a Republican Circus to deal with.

The most entertaining part will be watching Chris Smitherman, as the current designated member of council, to make the appointment to Council should Jeff Pastor resign. Smitherman does odd contortions to hide being a Republican.  It is what I call a complete lie and he and his Trumpist followers get in a frensy whenever I say he is a Republican on Twitter.  They defend lies all the time, so what is one more?

Anyway, the entertaining part is watching how he'll spin appointing a Republican.  It will be even more entertaining if he appoints a white Republican. The assumption is that he would appoint someone with a shot at winning next year.  There are only four announced Republicans.

But wait, there's more:  With the additional arrest of P.G. Sittenfeld, we may also end up seeing an additional election eligible person to the council.  There are four current Democratic members of council who will jointly appoint any possible replacement.  Sittenfeld has stated his innocence and has indicate he will not resign from Council.  This has no other affect on the Council Race, other than Republicans and outsiders using it as a talking point.  The FBI investigation could theoretically arrest other candidates, but as Sittenfeld would be considered the more "newsworthy" for US Attorney, unless Mayor John Cranley is in his sites, we won't see any other council members arrested, (But who knows). Make note that to be fare, Jeff Pastor is accused of more crimes than Sittenfeld, but as the news coverage is obvious, the Republicans wanted this one more and are going to exploit it.  The media will continue to do their bidding on this topic as well.

Incumbents
Greg Landsman (D)
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D-Appointed)
Jeff Pastor (R with criminal charges pending)
Betsy Sundermann (R-Appointed)

Announced Candidates
Jalen Alford (I)
Derek Bauman (D,C)
Key Beck (I)
Derrick Blassingame (R)
Michael Cappel (D)
Britton Carter (D)
Jeff Cramerding (D)
Michelle Dillingham (D)
Ryan DuPree (D)
Christine Fisher (D)
Manuel Foggie (D)
Bill Frost (C)
Brian Garry (D)
Cam Hardy (D,C)
Reggie Harris (D)
Evan Holt (I)
Dani Isaacsohn (D)
James Jenkins (I)
Scotty Johnson (D)
Liz Keating (R)
Rayshon Mack (R)
Dale Mallory (D)
Linda Matthews (R)
Meeka Owens (D)
Stacey Smith (I)
Dadrien Washington (D)
McKinzie Wright (I)

Prior Candidates Who Might Run
Henry Frondorf (I)
Kelli Prather (I)
Laure Quinlivan (D)

Rumored Or Speculated Candidates
Becky Finnigan (D)
Steve Goodin (R)
Jim Neil (I)
Matt Woods (C)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, this reference will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot (signatures turned in)
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.

November City Council Candidates Update

Well, I thought there wouldn't be much action in the council race at this point, but Republican Jeff Pastor was arrested under serious criminal charges involving his office as a member of City Council. Several Local Republicans quickly threw him under the bus.  Too bad those Republicans didn't have the spine to do that to Larry Householder or Trump.  Another group of Republicans, like a certain conservative columnist who is regularly sniffing the butts of conservative Republicans in hopes of landing a full time radio gig, just blames the City in mass for the actions of indivduals.  His regular anti-city rants fit right in with the bigotry rampant within the GOP, who as evidenced by the targeting of cities in their feeble Fascist crusade to try and subvert Democracy in America, are just blowing dog whistles for racists.

So, we'll have a Republican Circus to deal with.

The most entertaining part will be watching Chris Smitherman, as the current designated member of council, to make the appointment to Council should Jeff Pastor resign. Smitherman does odd contortions to hide being a Republican.  It is what I call a complete lie and he and his Trumpist followers get in a frensy whenever I say he is a Republican on Twitter.  They defend lies all the time, so what is one more?

Anyway, the entertaining part is watching how he'll spin appointing a Republican.  It will be even more entertaining if he appoints a white Republican. The assumption is that he would appoint someone with a shot at winning next year.  There are only four announced Republicans.

But wait, there's more:  With the additional arrest of P.G. Sittenfeld, we may also end up seeing an additional election eligible person to the council.  There are four current Democratic members of council who will jointly appoint any possible replacement.  Sittenfeld has stated his innocence and has indicate he will not resign from Council.  This has no other affect on the Council Race, other than Republicans and outsiders using it as a talking point.  The FBI investigation could theoretically arrest other candidates, but as Sittenfeld would be considered the more "newsworthy" for US Attorney, unless Mayor John Cranley is in his sites, we won't see any other council members arrested, (But who knows). Make note that to be fare, Jeff Pastor is accused of more crimes than Sittenfeld, but as the news coverage is obvious, the Republicans wanted this one more and are going to exploit it. The media will continue to do their bidding on this topic as well.

Incumbents
Greg Landsman (D)
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D-Appointed)
Jeff Pastor (R with criminal charges pending)
Betsy Sundermann (R-Appointed)

Announced Candidates
Jalen Alford (I)
Derek Bauman (D,C)
Key Beck (I)
Derrick Blassingame (R)
Michael Cappel (D)
Britton Carter (D)
Jeff Cramerding (D)
Michelle Dillingham (D)
Ryan DuPree (D)
Christine Fisher (D)
Manuel Foggie (D)
Bill Frost (C)
Brian Garry (D)
Cam Hardy (D,C)
Reggie Harris (D)
Evan Holt (I)
Dani Isaacsohn (D)
James Jenkins (I)
Scotty Johnson (D)
Liz Keating (R)
Rayshon Mack (R)
Dale Mallory (D)
Linda Matthews (R)
Meeka Owens (D)
Stacey Smith (I)
Dadrien Washington (D)
McKinzie Wright (I)

Prior Candidates Who Might Run
Henry Frondorf (I)
Kelli Prather (I)
Laure Quinlivan (D)

Rumored Or Speculated Candidates
Becky Finnigan (D)
Steve Goodin (R)
Jim Neil (I)
Matt Woods (C)

Candidate Twitter List: I have created a list of candidates on Twitter. Here is the actual list Twitter handles for the candidates.

As always:  If anyone has any other names please send them my way (editor@cincyblog.com) or if anyone named above wants to confirm they are not running, I'll remove them future postings of this list. If there are other social media or full websites I don't list, send them along as well.

The party designations at this time are what I've seen reported or what I've determined based on my observations. These notations do not mean the candidate is endorsed by any political party or group. Once official endorsements are made, this reference will be updated to reflect the endorsements. 

Key
* = Incumbent
‡ = On Ballot (signatures turned in)
D= Democratic Party
R= Republican Party
C= Charter Committee (aka Charter Party)
G= Green Party
I= Independent
?= I am speculating based on my reading of the information and observations available to me or unsure.