Ocasio-Cortez endorses Turner in Ohio special election

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday endorsed Nina Turner, the former Ohio state senator and national co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, in her race to represent Ohio’s open 11th Congressional District.

“Nina is a bold, unapologetic progressive who has spent her entire career advocating for the working people of Northeast Ohio, and a powerful voice for progressive values and policies that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of working people across this country — like Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, and a Green New Deal,” Ocasio-Cortez, herself a veteran of Sanders’s 2016 campaign, said in a statement. 

“I need her alongside me in Congress in the fight for racial, economic, social, and environmental justice,” she added. 

Turner said she was “honored” to receive the endorsement, adding that she looks forward to “working together to build a democracy where no child goes hungry, no worker earns a starvation wage, and where every business respects our planet.”

The 19th News first reported on the endorsement. 

The seat in Ohio’s 11th District opened when then-Rep. Marcia Fudge (D) was tapped by President Biden to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fudge, a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was first elected to Congress in 2008.

On March 10, the Senate confirmed her nomination on a 66-34 vote. Fudge is the first woman to hold the position since 1979, and only the second Black woman and third woman ever to lead the department.

Turner, one of at least half a dozen Democrats seeking the seat, has also secured endorsements from Sanders, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who served alongside her as co-chair of Sanders campaign and progressive Democratic Reps. Cori Bush (Mo.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.)  and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Thursday set the special election to fill Fudge’s seat for Nov. 2, with a primary to be held on Aug. 3.