A former Bernie Sanders presidential campaign co-chair who vividly described her distaste for President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday announced her candidacy for a US House seat in Ohio being vacated by one of his cabinet picks.
Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who helped lead the Vermont senator’s 2020 Democratic primary bid, said in July that voting for Biden was like being forced to eat only half a “bowl of s–t.”
“It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of s–t in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still s–t,” Turner told The Atlantic.
Turner, 53, is seeking to replace Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District, which includes parts of Cleveland. Fudge, 68, is Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A special election date has not yet been set to replace Fudge.
Turner told supporters on a Tuesday Zoom call, according to a press release, that “most people know the persona; but I want to introduce and reintroduce the person. I am a wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt and friend. … What I want the people of Akron and Cleveland to know is that I know what it means to be counted out. I am running to ensure the people of Akron and Cleveland are always counted in.”
Ohio Democratic state Sens. Sandra Williams and Kenny Yuko endorsed Turner in the press release.
“She has fought for justice at the local and national level, never forgetting her humble beginnings or her responsibility to the people of Cuyahoga County,” Williams said.
“Senator Turner and I battled in the trenches with our Democratic colleagues and our union brothers and sisters to protect the rights of working Ohioans,” Yuko said.
Nina Turner addresses supporters. EPAFormer Ohio Democratic state Sen. Eric Kearney said that “she will research every detail and then make an informed decision. She is emotive and inclusive of people who have struggled, have been treated unfairly and have been counted out.”
Turner would add to a growing group of establishment-bucking left-wing Democrats in the House, which prominently includes the four-woman “Squad” elected in 2018 — New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
The Squad will be bolstered with new allies elected on Nov. 3, including Missouri Rep.-elect Cori Bush, who formerly led anti-police brutality protests in the St. Louis area.
President Trump laughed when asked about Turner’s foul-mouthed description of voting for Biden during an August interview with The Post. “Ohh!” he said with a chuckle, adding: “Bernie was right about one thing and specifically it was trade … I think we’ll have a lot of Sanders voters.”






