ExecutivE seSsions
Talking policy and smack with Lee Weingart and Chris Ronayne as the county executive race heats up -By Sam Allard CUYAHOGA COUNTY VOTERS will decide between Democrat Chris Ronayne and Republican Lee Weingart in the race to succeed Armond Budish as county executive this November. Scene sat down with both candidates in recent weeks, giving them space to clarify their platforms, respond to criticisms and make their pitches to voters as the summer campaign season heats up. (The conversations below have been lightly edited for length and clarity.) We met Weingart at the 27 Club in the Flats, owned by Weingart’s favorite musical artist, Machine Gun Kelly. Over coffee, the Republican in the race began talking about his work with Black small business owners during the pandemic. Quickly, our conversation veered to the woeful voter turnout in Cuyahoga County. We suggested that there was a straightforward relationship between residents’ material conditions and their engagement in the democratic process…
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| clevescene.com | June 15-28, 2022
SAM ALLARD: ...It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican. I’m still poor. No one gives a shit about me. Why bother? LEE WEINGART: Right. Think about the Cleveland mayor’s race last year. It was the first open race in 15 years, and yet there was a smaller turnout than in 2017, when Frank Jackson coasted to his third re-election. I’ve talked to people on the East Side. There’s a sense of dejection about the system. But when I talk about what I want to do,
they tell me: If you really do that, I’ll vote for you. On the East Side? Are you targeting Tariq Shabazz voters, given his performance in the primary against Ronayne? I will say this: I was shocked at how well Tariq did and how poorly Chris did, especially when you think that Chris spent $300,000 and Tariq spent $700 and that Chris had the endorsement of the Democratic Party and Justin Bibb. The fact
