November 03, 2010
Posted by:
GCP Election Team
At a time when many Democrat candidates across the country took a political drubbing, Cuyahoga County still proved to be an impossible prize for Republican county executive candidate Matt Dolan.
In a race that many astute local political observers had refused to predict, Lakewood Mayor Ed Fitzgerald emerged as the winner over Dolan in a race that was not as close as the pundits expected. Despite swirling voter angst with the Democratic Party because of the local corruption scandal, Fitzgerald was pushed across the finish line in part by Cuyahoga County’s political composition and history.
A former FBI agent, Fitzgerald also was a staff member to former Congressman Ed Feighan an assistant county prosecutor and a city councilman before being elected mayor of Lakewood. In addition to proposing the creation of a $100 million development fund to seed business growth and attraction, Fitzgerald ran on a platform of restoring integrity to Cuyahoga County government.
But Fitzgerald hit a significant speed bump on what was an already challenging course when he was mentioned in the wide-ranging federal indictment of existing county officials. Many believe that Fitzgerald – who has not been implicated in the probe – did nothing wrong and did little more than take a phone call from embattled Democrat County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora. But Fitzgerald nonetheless got sullied in the process, and Dolan won the prized Plain Dealer endorsement.
Republicans have at times figured out how to win Cuyahoga County. Virgil Brown, an African-American, took votes from the historically Democrat black community in greater Cleveland. Jim Petro carefully built a base in the county’s West Shore area as a moderate, approachable Republican. And the grand master at winning Republican votes in Cuyahoga County – George Voinovich – mixed moderate politics, a fatherly demeanor and a tremendous ethnic appeal that attracted not only Republicans but Independents and conservative Democrats.
But Brown, Petro and Voinovich were notable GOP exceptions to the Democratic rule in Cuyahoga County, where sheer numbers are stacked against Republican countywide candidates. There has also been a significant demographic shift in Cuyahoga County since Petro was elected with a large number of Republicans moving out of the county.
Other factors may have contributed to Fitzgerald’s win. Certainly, the 20 percent of the total votes that went to the two most significant independent candidates – Ken Lanci and Tim McCormack could have siphoned away enough votes that would have meant an upset for Dolan. Lanci, a wealthy businessman, used his checkbook to make a name for himself among voters and likely stole votes from Dolan. Lanci aired radio spots in the waning hours of the campaign calling Dolan out for having only recently moved to Cuyahoga County.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that McCormack, a maverick former County officeholder, would draw votes from fellow Irish Democrat Fitzgerald. But, moderate and conservative Democrats (known in past years as “Reagan Democrats”) who were dissatisfied with their party due to the corruption probe and may have crossed party lines to vote for Dolan may instead have cast their ballots for McCormack.
In the end, the numbers were there for Fitzgerald. Reading the tea leaves via early voting showed that significantly more ballots were being returned from Democrat-trending cities. Nearly 200,000 of the 414,929 votes cast in Cuyahoga County were vote-by-mail.
Of the mail ballots returned, about 60% were from registered democrats, 25% from republicans and 15% from independents. Independents comprise 52% of the county’s registered voters. Roughly one-third of the county’s 371,185 registered Democrats voted by mail as did nearly half of the 105,657 registered Republicans.
Despite significant statewide races and the opportunity to vote for new County leadership, turnout was only 42 percent, slightly below the turnout for the last governor’s race in 2006.
One political consultant noted that Fitzgerald will have to be sensitive to the internal constituencies of the Democrat Party.
“He survived the Republican storm and that means the Democrats are his most important constituency,” he said. “He will be less beholden to the business community.”
But Fitzgerald does have a track record in both being business-friendly and making tough and unpopular decisions. As a Lakewood City Councilman, he supported a redevelopment project – also backed by the Greater Cleveland Partnership -- that would have meant eminent domain for 15 homeowners to turn 20 acres of the west end of Lakewood into a mixed-use development project. He and other proponents argued that the project would have improved the long-term financial health of Lakewood.
The controversial project ultimately lead, in part, to the demise of its then mayor. Fitzgerald was willing to take the political hit for what he viewed as the betterment of his community, and obviously he survived.
When Fitzgerald became mayor, he cut payroll by 27% and restructured Lakewood government to be more efficient – experience he says translates well to his new role as county executive.
“There’s a chance that the first county executive will be unpopular because of tough decisions that are needed,” he said, adding that if that meant he was not reelected in four years, he accepted it.
“We will have to take some risks and be willing to say goodbye to some county employees,” Fitzgerald said, adding that some consolidation will be required and that no departments would be sacred cows when it comes to cuts and scrutiny.
Fitzgerald said that his new role would include ensuring that resources for economic development exist, suggesting a Third Frontier-like program. Fitzgerald’s Fourth Frontier would establish a $100 million economic development fund through the issuance of bonds for example, to spur business growth.
Fitzgerald will also have the support of labor unions, which could make regionalizing some city services more difficult. Countywide initiatives would require collaboration among governments and intergovernmental agreements – which are difficult to negotiate with labor unions as consolidation could lead to job redundancies and cuts.
He has said he supports regional initiatives and plans to hire a director of regional collaboration that would identify opportunities for shared services.
Fitzgerald previously opposed the conversion of county government to the executive/county form he will now lead. He said he opposed Issue 6 not because he believed in the commissioner system, but rather because he felt strongly about a public charter review process and he had concerns that the charter did not have enough checks and balances on the county executive and council.
Looking ahead, one key challenge for Fitzgerald and the new county council will be preventing the balkanization of Cuyahoga County, which is being split into 11 districts. Together they will be laying a whole new framework for local government. Its culture and precedent will be driven by Fitzgerald and the new council president, and the dynamics between the two remain to be seen.
The new County Council is comprised of a mix of political newcomers, rising stars and career legislators. Three of the seats were won by Republican candidates. Five of the council members were elected to a four-year term. The remainder have an initial two year term and will be up for reelection to a four-year term in 2012. The council members will earn $45,000 annually with the council president earning $55,000.
Longtime legislator Dale Miller, retired municipal court judge C. Ellen Connally and Parma Council President Chuck Germana are said to be the leading candidates for council president.
Several of the new council members bring with them business expertise and perspective.
The body also presents an opportunity for rising stars like Julian Rogers to elevate their local political profiles.
In January, the form of government that has been used to run Cuyahoga County for 200 years will be retired. It’s a new day, and an excellent opportunity for the county to become a leaner, more efficient government that places a special emphasis upon the growth of businesses and job creation.
Category:
Advocacy
Tags:
Cuyahoga County Executive,
Ed Fitzgerald