Hello Somebody! Nina Turner makes exciting campaign announcement
Cleveland, Ohio - Progressive icon Nina Turner announced on Wednesday she is throwing her hat in the ring for another shot at the US House.
The former Ohio state senator and national co-chair of the 2020 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign announced her official candidacy to represent Ohio's 11th congressional district on Wednesday with a video on Twitter.
"Greater Cleveland needs a change maker in Washington. A leader who knows poverty is a policy choice. Someone who is on the side of the people – not out for the powerful or out for themselves," she tweeted along with the video.
Turner's announcement sets up a likely rematch with Shontel Brown, who won the Ohio-11 special election in August to fill the seat left vacant by Biden's Housing and Urban Development secretary, Marcia Fudge.
Corporate and GOP donors poured over $2.5 million into the race, all in an effort to defeat Turner.
But the devastating loss didn't keep Turner down. In September, she took the first step to get back on the campaign trail by filing papers to run for the same district again in 2022.
This time around, she plans to prioritize many of the same issues she is known for championing, including Medicare For All, living wage increases, reproductive justice, criminal justice reform, voting rights, bold climate action, and greater protections for labor unions.
She is also refusing to take corporate PAC money and running an entirely grassroots-funded campaign.
Greater turnout rates during the 2022 midterm election year, when many more offices are on the ballot, could work to Turner's benefit. Special elections are known for bringing low percentages of voters to the polls.
With more progressives running for office nationwide, Turner is also hoping that corporate PACs will not be able to focus all their resources and attention on herself.
Cover photo: Screenshot/Facebook/Nina Turner