The former interim mayor of East Cleveland, Sandra Morgan, will face the current mayor, Lateek Shabazz, on November’s general election ballot for mayor of the scandal-plagued suburb.
Morgan easily outperformed Shabazz, winning 78%, 957 votes, to Shabazz’s 15%, 182 votes, in unofficial results.
Shabazz is the former city council president and became mayor after Brandon King, who first rose to the office following his predecessor’s conviction, was convicted of theft in office and other charges.
None of the three other candidates received more than 5%.
This is Morgan’s first election. She was appointed interim mayor while King was awaiting trial. The presiding judge of Cuyahoga County Probate Court, Anthony Russo, made the appointment under a state law that allows for the removal of a public official while awaiting trial.
Morgan promised to focus on the city’s finances, telling Ideastream Public Media’s Jeff St. Clair after her appointment, “If anything, it feels as though we've gone backwards, and we need to take a good hard at our finances, roll up our sleeves, and actually do the work necessary in order to right the ship there.”
Following King’s conviction in May, Morgan initially refused to step down. An appeals court ruled that, based on the city’s charter, Shabazz is the rightful mayor.
Shabazz complimented Morgan during the press conference in July when he took over, calling her a “classy lady”, but maintained that he was the rightful mayor all along and criticized the courts' handling of the situation.
Shabazz said he is the right man for the job, vowing to clean up the city and police department.
"I'm going to get rid of these dope houses,” Shabazz said in July. “I'm going to clean up the police department because they're the ones that have us in this $100 million debt. So, I'm going to clean from top to bottom on that one."
Since taking office, Shabazz has fired interim police chief Kenneth Lundy. He also requested assistance from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department with patrols during the Shaw High School reunion in August.
The East Cleveland Police Department has been hampered for years by scandals. Between August 2022 and March 2023, 16 East Cleveland officers were indicted on charges including felonious assault, interference with civil rights, tampering with evidence and dereliction of duty.
Both police chiefs before Lundy left office under clouds of misconduct.
