Meet The Six Candidates Vying To Lead Ohio's Democrats

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman  David Pepper resigned at the end of 2020 and the race is on to replace him.

Six candidates have applied to succeed him. Whoever ends up with the chairmanship will lead a party that has been in the minority at the Statehouse for most of the last 20 years, and in the last decade has not won a state-wide race, save for three Ohio Supreme Court Justice seats.

Antoinette Wilson, who ran new Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner’s campaign. Wilson, who owns a marketing company, applied to be chair in 2014, the year Pepper was chosen.

“I’ve been very, very adamant on the need for an 88-county strategy that is built from the bottom up. It incorporates the strengths of what each county possesses but more importantly, understanding where their challenges have been and figuring out how to do it differently," Wilson said.

Craig Swartz is an Upper Sandusky resident. He recently ran an unsuccessful campaign for state senate. He says he has an economic blueprint for Ohio.   

“And I feel like Ohio, particularly those in rural Ohio, just aren’t getting our message and hearing what we can do for them," Swartz said.

Meryl Neiman is a leader of Ohio Progressive Action Leaders (OPAL) and said she would focus on the long-term work of building a voter base.  

“We need to expand the electorate in order to win which means a different approach as opposed to an election drive cycle, that we need to do the harder slower work of engaging with people year-round, registering people, knocking on doors," Neiman said.

Gary Josephson is retired now, but led a union that waged a strike against Ohio State University two decades ago. He lost in a Democratic primary for the Ohio House last year.  

“Ohio is like a bombed-out country that doesn’t have what it had when I was young," Josephson said. "Now let’s talk about what we can build, what we can do together."

Vanessa Enoch has a doctorate in public policy and social change, as well experience in political strategy. She is a two-time congressional candidate from Butler County.

"I am a non-traditional candidate. I’ve worked mostly outside of the system for change for the betterment of communities across the state," Enoch said.

University of Cincinnati Political Science Professor David Niven said whoever gets the top job for Ohio's Dems will have their work cut out for them. 

“Ohio is whiter than the nation. It’s older than the nation. It’s less educated than the nation. This is not the formula the Democrats are doing well with right now," Niven said.

Another candidate, Summit County Councilwoman Liz Walters, previously served as the executive director of the state party.  She declined an on-the-record interview at this time. 

The state's Democratic Party will choose its new leader on Jan. 14.  

Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.