by Jo Ingles
Some backers of former Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders are turning their eyes to Ohio’s gubernatorial race in 2018. And the group has a candidate in mind for that contest.
One of the activists with Ohio Revolution, a group that backed Sanders, wants former state lawmaker Nina Turner to run for governor.
Puja Datta is working to draft Turner, saying the former state senator from Cleveland is just what the Democratic Party needs right now.
“Nina’s vision for the working class, her vision for criminal justice, like all of the past things that she’s very passionate about are the things that I think Senator Sanders’ campaign showed the American people are very passionate about,” she said.
Datta said she wants Turner to run because it’s time for an African American woman to lead Ohio.
Turner ran for Secretary of State in 2014, but has not said if she’s interested in running statewide again.