Robert Reich Backs Nina Turner, ‘Who Will Fight for Working People’ in Ohio’s 11th District

ON FRIDAY, former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich urged voters in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District to cast their ballots for progressive firebrand Nina Turner, who is challenging Rep. Shontel Brown in the Democratic primary.

Reich stated that “we have to elect” Turner “because we need people in Congress who will fight for working people instead of allowing corporations and billionaires to loot the economy.”

Moreover, he shared a conversation he had with the candidate about how “poverty is a policy choice.” Reich has also described Turner as “one of my favorite people in America.”

Reich’s remarks came as early in-person voting is already underway for the May 3 election.

U.S. President Joe Biden, on the other hand, endorsed Brown, describing her as “a true partner in Congress.” Brown beat Turner in a special election for the seat last year. She pledged that she would “continue to be a unifying leader in Congress” while working with the president to deliver for her district.

Earlier this month, as the Congressional Progressive Caucus controversially backed Brown, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) formally endorsed Turner—who supported his 2016 presidential run and served as a national co-chair for his 2020 campaign.

In response to Biden’s decision, Andrew Perez, a senior journalist at The Lever, said that “for the Democratic Party establishment, there’s nothing more unforgivable than supporting Bernie Sanders.”

In July 2020, Turner made clear that she was not enthusiastic about voting for Biden. She told The Atlantic: “It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of shit in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still shit.”

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) has endorsed Brown and is expected to stump for her in Ohio this weekend. He referenced Turner’s 2020 position on Friday.

“Shontel made it very clear that she was a Joe Biden supporter,” Clyburn told The Hill. “And her opponent made it very clear that she was a Joe Biden opponent.”

Biden’s endorsement of Brown is notably only the second of this cycle.

David Dayen wrote Wednesday for The American Prospect that “Biden raised eyebrows over the weekend with his first endorsement of the 2022 election cycle, backing Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), a corporate-friendly moderate who has opposed much of the White House’s agenda, and who is facing a primary challenger running on the very administration priorities he has shunned.”

Dayen noted that “Democrats in the district argue that Biden’s endorsement of Schrader over his opponent, attorney and 2018 congressional candidate Jamie McLeod-Skinner, fits a pattern of the incumbent’s support coming largely from the corporate and political establishment outside the state, rather than from voters and officials on the ground.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Jessica Corbett.