'On the Side of the People': Nina Turner Launches New Congressional Run in Ohio

Democrat Nina Turner announced Wednesday she's running again to represent Greater Cleveland in U.S. Congress, bringing back an agenda of priorities like Medicare for All, a living wage, and recurring federal relief amid the ongoing pandemic, and a fresh promise to be a fighter for "a progressive future that works for all."

"Greater Cleveland needs... a leader who knows poverty is a policy choice."

"When we look over the course of last year, families are still struggling--with higher gas and food prices, stagnant wages, and shrinking benefits, while corporations make record profits," Turner said in a statement.

"We can get an agenda through Congress that puts working families first but it is being blocked by a handful of holdouts," she said. "Obstruction of the Democratic agenda is hurting Greater Cleveland and as the next congresswoman, I am going to fight back."

A former Ohio state senator and national co-chair for Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, Turner made the announcement before the state's newly drawn congressional maps are finalized, though the campaign says the new Cleveland district will likely work in her favor.

Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court ordered the Republican-drawn state legislative district map redrawn after the majority found them to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

The campaign development comes less than six months after Turner's loss to Democrat Shontel Brown in a special primary election for Ohio's strongly blue 11th Congressional District. For that small contribution-fueled campaign, Turner had won the endorsements of a number of prominent progressive lawmakers, including Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), as well as progressive groups like the Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats.

Turner's new bid sets up a likely rematch with Brown and what may become another battle between the Democratic establishment and the party's progressive wing.

In a campaign announcement video shared Wednesday on social media, Turner frames the nation as being "at a crossroads, wrestling between two futures."

"Do we sacrifice the poor, the working poor, and the barely middle class to protect the ultra wealthy?" she asks. "Or do we treat our people as America's greatest asset and ensure everyone has a real chance to live a good life?"

"We deserve... a leader who is on the side of the people," says Turner, "not out for the powerful or for themselves."