Shontel Brown beats Nina Turner in key Ohio primary - POLITICO

Brown's victory in a special election primary for Congress marked a striking defeat for the Democratic Party's liberal wing.

Nina Turner gives her concession speech after losing to Cuyahoga County Council member Shontel Brown in a special primary on Aug.

3, 2021 in Maple Heights, Ohio.

BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio — The Democratic establishment dealt a crushing blow to the progressive movement Tuesday, when Shontel Brown, the preferred candidate of party stalwarts, triumphing over Nina Turner, a face of the insurgent left, in a special congressional primary election.

Brown’s victory in the primary, which is tantamount to the general election in this deep-blue, Northeast Ohio seat, brings an end to a contentious summer of internecine squabbling for Democrats over the direction of their party with Joe Biden in the White House.

In a spirited concession speech from a bowling alley in the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights, Turner blamed the super PACs that opposed her for the loss and vowed to fight for better infrastructure and campaign-finance reform to aid like-minded candidates.

"I am going to work hard to ensure that something like this never happens to a progressive candidate again," she said.

Turner was a staple on cable TV and did not hold back her distaste of Clinton and Biden and the Democratic Party’s leaders.

To chip away at Turner’s early momentum, Brown’s allies bombarded the airwaves with ads dragging up unfavorable Turner comments about the Democratic Party.

(Some spots included a now-notorious interview Turner gave comparing voting for Joe Biden to eating excrement.) The Democratic Majority for Israel super PAC was the main spender, dropping nearly $1 million on TV to boost Brown.

But the caucus took special umbrage at a June exchange between Turner and the rapper Killer Mike, in which the two suggested Clyburn had not extracted enough in return from Biden in exchange for his powerful endorsement of his presidential campaign.

But it’s worth noting the moderate attacks against Turner did not take aim at the progressive proposals she supports, such as Medicare-for-all or a Green New Deal — an indication they are popular with the base

“Our progressive issues and our progressive movement is strong in people's hearts

Over at Brown’s victory party at an Italian restaurant less than a mile away, she framed her win as a testament to her nine years in local government and voters' desire for someone who will work with party leadership