I LOVE local politics.
All politics is local. If you can change things on the local level then you can change politics at the state and national level.
I am here to tell you: Money controls ALL Akron politics right now. The Republicans have given up on us. They just funnel money to the powerful Democrats. Akron Democrats are the furthest thing away from a real Democrat you could possibly imagine. They just care about business. Poverty, crime, gun violence, addiction, overdoses: they have no plan for these things because they don't care about those things.
There is so little media coverage of Akron politics that most people just vote based on mailers and signs - IF THEY VOTE AT ALL!
In the last Mayoral and Ward primary these are the vote totals for the two primary mayoral candidates:
Daniel Horrigan . . . . . . . . 10,647
Michael D. Williams . . . . . . . 8,088
That's a total of 18,735 votes.
We had 124,639 registered voters in that primary.
That's a 15% voter turnout. And, in Akron, the person who wins the Democratic primary wins the general election.
My guess is that we'll have a 12% voter turnout this time.
And then the rich people can go back to doing whatever the hell they want with our city.
I have been tabulating the money candidates are spending in this Akron primary election. 5 of the top 7 candidates with the most money are Dan Horrigan surrogates. These are the candidates he supports. All they have to do in return is vote for his pet projects.
This is a graph of the Akron candidates and how much money they have reported as of April 25, 2019:
This is the data in a spreadsheet form:
| Candidate | Office Sought | 4. Total Funds Available | Endorsement | Party |
| Shammas Malik | Ward 8 | $51,326 | Horrigan | D |
| Jeff Fusco | At Large | $34,288 | Horrigan | D |
| Linda Omobien | At Large | $32,735 | D | |
| Veronica Sims | At Large | $24,671 | D | |
| Marilyn Keith | At Large | $19,924 | Horrigan | D |
| Philipo Lombardo | Ward 2 | $19,429 | Horrigan | D |
| Ginger Baylor | At Large | $9,507 | Horrigan | D |
| Jack L. Hefner | Ward 10 | $9,310 | D | |
| Curtis Walker | Ward 8 | $8,255 | D | |
| Michael Madonio | Ward 6 | $8,245 | D | |
| Donnie Kammer | Ward 7 | $7,977 | D | |
| Tara Samples | Ward 5 | $7,627 | D | |
| Sharon L. Connor | Ward 10 | $6,347 | Horrigan | D |
| Zack Milkovich | Ward 10 | $5,366 | D | |
| Tammy Cummings | Ward 7 | $3,166 | D | |
| Johnnie Hannah | Ward 5 | $2,936 | D | |
| Joshua Sines | Mayor | $2,530 | R | |
| Rich Swirsky | Ward 1 | $2,269 | D | |
| Bradley McKitrick | Ward 6 | $2,250 | D | |
| Michael Freeman | Ward 9 | $2,105 | D | |
| Russ Neal | Ward 4 | $1,770 | D | |
| Janice Davis | Ward 4 | $1,423 | D | |
| Margo Sommerville | Ward 3 | $1,400 | D | |
| Gregory Dunham | Ward 8 | $1,095 | R | |
| Robert E. Hoch | Ward 6 | $823 | D | |
| Lamont Robert Porter | At Large | $100 | D | |
| Gregory Harrison | Mayor | $0 | D | |
| Henry Todd | At Large | $0 | R | |
| Monica Renee McNatt | At Large | $0 | R | |
| Osita Obierika | At Large | $0 | R |
Linda Omobien (#3 money getter) mostly funds her own campaign and Veronica Simms (#4 money getter) just has a lot of support of the people.
We have to stop the madness of rich people running our city and not giving a damn about the people and the real issues of our city.
We will be the masters of our own demise if we don't vote.
I am hosting a Meet the Candidates night this Friday from 6pm to 8pm at 15 Broad Street in Akron.
Paid For By The People for Sage Lewis