Opinion: District 21 Candidates Run Your Race: Don't Let Bullies Hinder Your Progress

Politics - If you repeatPhoto byBrian WertheimonUnsplash

This editorial is the opinion of Kimberly F. Brown, known as Brown on Cleveland. The views expressed in this column are not those of Newsbreak or its affiliates.

As election season progresses, Tuesday, March 19, will be here before we know it. It's the primary election. While campaigners are focusing on the issues and getting the party endorsement, others are driving a slippery slope of trying to grasp as many straws as possible. Some candidates will rely on name recognition, and others will depend on who's in a circle of committee members: the messy, the unrest, the lazy, the bully, the gossipers, and the evil spirits.

Candidates Run Your Race

According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, there are four Democrats and one Republican seeking to attain the Ohio House District 21 Seat ( Democrats): Incumbent Elliot Forhan, Beachwood Councilman Eric Synenberg, the Business Woman and Community Activist Angel Washington, and the Republican write-in candidate Joshua Malovasic.

Elliot Forhan, an attorney, is the uncertain candidate on the radar of many political consultants and strategists. Forhan was accused of being too aggressive. He was removed from the Democratic Caucus for allegations surrounding abusive behavior. The Ohio Capital-Journal wrote that "Northeast Ohio state Rep. Elliot Forhan has been stripped of nearly all lawmaker privileges by Democratic Party leaders for "abusive" and "violent" behavior detailed in a 19-page memorandum." A colleague also accused him of harassment. This is an accusation as he was later cleared of these allegations.

Eric Synenberg is the Councilman at Large in Beachwood. Synenberg is a councilman with the City of Beachwood, OH. Synenberg is a Candidate for the Ohio House Seat District 21. According to the Ohio Elections Commission, Eric recently had a hearing on January 18, 2024, regarding allegations of campaign finance violations. The Ohio Elections Commission found no violation of Ohio Revised Code 3517.08. However, Synenberg was found to have violated ORC 3517.13(O) - the Commission reported. He was fined $100.00. According to the Commission, he paid the fine on Thursday, January 18, 2024. Synenberg is a candidate for the District 21 House.

According to their website, "The duties of the Ohio Elections Commission include, but are not limited to, the adjudication of Ohio's Campaign Finance laws."

Angel Washington is a Businesswoman and community activist. Washington is part of the Democrat machine and was put in the race by women who wanted a woman of color. She's a newcomer to running for an elected office: a very nice lady with fresh ideas, innocent, but she may lack the boldness to handle the district's business. Old politicians surround Washington - some very mean-spirited people who enjoy throwing rocks at people (hiding their hands), name-calling, and are downright disrespectful to other women of color.

Out of courtesy, we recently removed an editorial at the request of former Senator Shirley A. Smith, who threw rocks at Synenberg and became aggressive (negative name-calling and personal attacks) with this writer because she (Smith) did not want to be named in an editorial she had written. She wanted to throw rocks and hide her hands. For some odd reason, Smith thought writing an editorial about a public official was okay, and asking a content creator to publish the opinion without transparency and a disclaimer was okay. As a former Senator, she should have known better. Earlier last year, Smith stood up for a lady named Ladosha Wright, who was allegedly verbally attacked by State Representative Forhan for the same behavior she displayed, if not worse.

One thing is for certain: with politics, people will get in bed with strange fruit, rotten and spoiled, depending upon who gets what, when and where, and how. It's all about politics, money, favor, and who can control who. The more I live, the more I realize politics is a far cry for the people. Those who you think are with you are sometimes the same folks who look like you and will shame you due to colorism, sexism, racism, and hatred within their sub-groups. Let's not be fooled or distracted by bullies, cowards, and loudmouths playing poker with the wrong cards and wrongfully marked chips. These folks are not playing the game to run a race; they are preying on pawns - trying to make malicious moves to take a space they can't win or control unless they throw rocks and hide their ugly hand. Some of them will do exactly what they accuse elected officials of; they believe their behavior will be ignored and excused.

Ohio House District 21 Candidates run your race; stop allowing the interference of bullies, cowards, and mean-spirited people to set you back. If you made a mistake, own it and move forward. As you see, the same folks who criticize you and ridicule you have done some egregious acts that make you look like a Boy Scout and a Girl Scout.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024, is the primary election for House District 21. Constituents of District 21 will decide who will continue the race for the Ohio House Seat. This race is the voters' choice.