The meeting with the editorial board of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Northeast Ohio Media Group was closed to other media, but reporter Henry Gomez tweeted about it.
He quotes Ealy saying, it's "time for a black governor," something Ohio has never had.
Ealy promised to demolish black housing projects, and said he favors legalizing marijuana. If elected, he added he’d hire jobless Ohioans for pot-growing.
Ealy also set himself apart from FitzGerald saying he's pro-life.
Fitzgerald all but ignored Ealy during the joint interview, and Gomez reports that at one point FitzGerald went on a 20-minute monologue where he attacked Republican Governor John Kasich's funding approach on Common Core standards. He said he agrees with the Common Core principles, and would fully fund implementation.
Polls indicate FitzGerald has a shot at unseating Kasich in the fall campaign. Ealy is a virtual unknown in Democratic circles. This was their first joint appearance and may be their last before the primary in two weeks.