The “Black Lives Matter” group in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has endorsed incumbent Republican Senator Rob Portman. Cuyahoga County has a population of 1,280,122 with Cleveland being the county seat. This group is not affiliated with the national “Black Lives Matter” organization. The President of the group, Jeff Mixon, is also on the executive committee of Cuyahoga County Democratic committee. Mixon explained his group’s endorsement of Rob Portland,
“Most of us, even though we’re Democrats, weren’t impressed with Ted Strickland at all.
Strickland is Portman’s Democrat opponent in the race. Polls have Portman ahead by only 4%.
Mixon said the vote was close with 4 of the 7 executive committee members voting for Portman and 3 for Strickland. The group has 52 members. They have endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. The endorsement of Senator Portland came as a surprise. It’s expected that some members of the group will object to the endorsement. Mixon said,
We think the Democratic Party is able to take us for granted, to the point where they don’t have to do a damn thing for us,”
On Friday Portman’s spokesman, Michawn Rich, said,
“We are honored that Rob’s positive vision for the future has attracted support from all corners of Ohio.”
