Democrats are usually shoo-ins for local races in strongly blue Cuyahoga County. But as Ed FitzGerald explained to supporters in a downtown Cleveland hotel last night, the circumstances of this six-candidate race for county executive was nothing usual.
Ed FitzGerald: We had to overcome not one but two millionaire opponents, we faced the largest concentration of campaign spending in the history of this county. We were outspent four or 5 to one and we had a stream of scandals laid at our doorstep - whether that was fair or not - and we had to deal with that over and over again, and despite all of that, we still won.
A two-year-old federal investigation of corruption in Cuyahoga County government unleashed a torrent of negative headlines about two top local democratic powerbrokers, ex-auditor Frank Russo and former head of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, Jimmy Dimora. Multiple indictments outlined pay to play schemes in various county departments. FitzGerald was even alluded to in one indictment, though never charged. Nevertheless, his opponents campaigning on reform - and who had much bigger warchests - put the corruption scandal at the center of their campaigns.
But at the end of the night Republican Matt Dolan, a former state representative and Fitzgerald's closest rival, put the scandal aside, saying he was sorry he lost but hoped the civic dialogue that grew out of the campaign debates continues.
Matt Dolan:There was great dialogue, people got involved and I hope the civic spirit remains and I hope those who worked hard on reform continue to work hard on reform.
Dolan attracted about 31 percent of the vote. The third best vote getter was businessman and independent candidate Ken Lanci who also outspent FitzGerald by more than two to one. Lanci got nearly 12 percent of the vote. Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim McCormack, running as an independent, got just over 8 percent of the vote.
FitzGerald said his campaign starts work on rebuilding trust in county government today when he will release the names of the people chairing his transition team.
Ed FitzGerald: People didn't lose their faith over night. They aren't going to gain it back overnight. Speeches aren't going to do it. They have to see that people mean what they say and achieve what they say they will do.
In campaigns, FitzGerald has said he would conduct reviews of county departments. How he will do that, he says will be released in coming days.
Ed FitzGerald: There will be a review of every single position. There is nothing that's off the table. And if somebody has a position that they are not qualified for or if they got that job for an improper reason they are going to end up looking for a job.
As head of Ohio's biggest county, FitzGerald will hold a prominent democratic position. Jason Johnson, a political science professor at Hiram College and analyst for The Source Magazine, says that position is now amplified within the party after last night's democratic losses across Ohio.
Jason Johnson: Not only is he responsible for establishing and creating and substantiating a brand new position, but he's probably, next to Sherrod Brown, the 1st or second most powerful Democrat in the state now.
But for the next two months, FitzGerald says his team has a lot of work to do to get ready to take office. He and the county's new 11-member council will be sworn in on Jan. 1.