Jennifer Brunner for United States Senate

Who I Am
Posted by Jennifer on (07/07/2009)

Ever since I decided to give up the security of what is widely regarded as a "safe" re-election for Secretary of State and instead run for the U.S. Senate, the political insiders in Columbus and Washington began actively discouraging my candidacy. "She can’t raise the money," said many. "You shouldn’t run for the Senate if the Governor supports Lieutenant Governor Fisher," warned some Washington insiders in January. "You need to take one for the team, even though I don’t think the Lt. Gov. can win in the general election," one Congressman cautioned. "I think you have the political skills to win this election, but you need the money,” said a political mentor.

Four months into this race, I certainly understand why many folks around Ohio would make these statements.  But their comments are not what drive me to run.  Having worked in politics for more than 30 years, I never thought I would run for public office, because as an attorney practicing in that arena, I knew I didn’t want to be like some of my elected official clients.  When I finally ran for office, I not only enjoyed campaigning and connecting with people, I also “got” the notion of public service.  

Public service for me has never been about the money. I know I must raise it. I always have, deliberately, steadily and having enough in the end to get the votes I need to win. For me, public service at its essence is about standing up for the kinds of things we as Democrats believe in and taking the fight of my fellow Ohioans to Columbus or Washington or wherever I can best help people in need. Those people in need are my state, the state I have lived in since birth, the state that I love for its rivers and lakes, hills and flatlands, factories and farms, families of all nature, history and future, small towns and big cities—but most of all, for its people.

Because I grew up here, went to public school and state university here, lived much of this state’s history through my extended family’s stories and heritage, and because I believe in the future of Ohio, I am in this race, and I will not get out.

I’m not running for the Senate because I believe it would be a fitting end to my career. I do not care about self-aggrandizement. I care about people. Like our newest and hard-working Senator, Sherrod Brown, I believe a Senator has to walk into the Senate with a series of core values from which she will not waver. I also have faith in the people of Ohio.  We are a diverse group, not all agreeing on the same issues, but we do agree that the best public officials honestly appraise things and work together to better the lives of Ohioans.

I did not just convert to support marriage equality; I have been there for a long time. It is because I know who I am and where I come from that I know public service means promoting fairness, equality and respect for all people. And it means pushing for those core values in our government’s policies, both here and abroad.

I support a woman’s right to choose not because it is the politically expedient thing to do. I champion a woman’s right to choose because as a woman I know that each woman’s story is different, and as painful as a decision may be, it belongs to that woman and not the federal government.

And I vigorously oppose draconian cuts in state or federal funding that deprive the middle class of tools to achievement such as libraries.  I vigorously oppose cuts in state or federal funding that dangerously fray the safety net, particularly cuts in substance abuse and mental health funding, services for older Ohioans and daycare for working-class moms—precisely at a time when we should be poised to successfully launch the next generation into a more technological and global economy.

Likewise, I advocate passionately for greater attention to women’s health issues, so no one else will have to endure what my own mother-in-law had to endure—the loss of a child at birth because of inadequate prenatal care. And I believe in a health care system that covers everyone, not just those who can afford to pay—and this includes a public option for Americans to obtain health insurance.

I strongly support controversial legislation such as the Employee Free Choice Act, because every worker should have the right to decide for himself or herself whether he or she wants to be part of a union and how that choice should take place. I am proud to carry the endorsement of the United Food and Commercial Workers and many more Ohio labor organizations.  I understand the social responsibility we all have as citizens, including corporate citizens, to care for one another, to ensure living wages for self-sufficiency and to strengthen the middle class as a means of strengthening our economy.

These are not the easy positions; they may not be the politically advantageous positions. But they are positions I know in my heart and in my head to be the positions that underlie core Democratic values. Democrats take a “ground up” approach, believing that strength is derived from individuals who come together in a fair way, looking out for one another, and sharing cost and responsibility wisely and democratically. Time and time again in our history, it is the Democratic Party that has been called upon by the American people to fix the failed policies of the Republican Party – a party that gives lip service to the individual, but for whom individual means “king of the hill. The little guy on the bottom is no more than a widget or a tool.  Not so with Democrats, and not so with me.

If this race for the U.S. Senate is about the trappings of insider politics, then I suspect Lee Fisher will be your man. But if Ohio’s Democratic faithful are willing to look toward a new way that is really nothing more than the old way of the Golden Rule, then Jennifer Brunner will be the first woman from Ohio to be both nominated and elected to the U.S. Senate.  

Women voters will be energized by this election across our state, because many of their hopes and dreams were piqued by the candidacy of Hillary Clinton and fueled by the election of our first African-American president, Barack Obama.  Rob Portman introduces himself to the voters of our state as a former Congressman, Bush trade representative and budget director. I know that Democrats will fight to make sure that all voting Ohioans know he is not their man, and that their next U.S. Senator must be a woman whose courage has been tested and who has only just begun to help Ohioans earn a new respect for their state.  Ohio can progress; we can move forward; we can climb out of the sinkhole we now find ourselves in; and we can do it working together.

My hope—and my candidacy—are based on my deep-seated belief that leadership is not bound by gender, just as it is not bought with chits and money. Leadership is earned with courage and principle that go hand in hand to move us forward.  The struggle of this election is likely to reflect the struggle of everyday Ohioans to do what’s right, to achieve for themselves and their loved ones and to be good citizens in the larger community.  As we move ahead in this race, I will do what Democrats do best—see things for what they are, work to bring the best people together to tackle the problems and seize upon what can be done to bring hope to Ohioans for a better day.  I am in this race to stay.

Paid for by Jennifer Brunner Committee

35 N. 4th Street, Columbus, OH 43215

© 2009 Jennifer Brunner Committee. All rights reserved.