Brunner News
Brunner highlights League’s 90th anniversary luncheon
by on 02.21.2010
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner will be the keynote speaker at a luncheon marking the 90th anniversary of The League of Women Voters of the Greater Dayton Area on Tuesday, Feb 23, at Sinclair Community College’s Ponitz Center.
Brunner, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, is Ohio’s first woman to serve as secretary of state and was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2008 for her efforts in reforming Ohio’s election system. She will speak on the topic “The Women’s Movement and the League’s Role.”
Before taking office, the Springfield native served as legislative counsel for the Secretary of State’s Office, spent 13 years in election law private practice, and was a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge. She also worked as a member of the Franklin County Board of Elections and was a special prosecutor for election fraud.
Source: Read more
Brunner’s Unconventional Senate Campaign In Ohio
by on 02.06.2010
. . . Brunner dismisses the conventional view she isn't a strong candidate because she doesn't have a well-stocked campaign treasury.
"The Washington view is that the worth of a candidate is their fundraising prowess. But the voters don't feel that way. The voters don't care," Brunner told CQ Politics last week in Washington, D.C., where she was attending a conference of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
"I only need enough money to win," Brunner said. "And frankly, in this economic environment, it's rather obscene when people start crowing about how many millions they have on hand."
Brunner is very much the outsider in the Democratic primary. Gov. Ted Strickland (D) is backing Fisher, his No. 2. Numerous Democratic senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), have donated to Fisher's campaign from their leadership political action committees. Brunner has sparred with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who oversees the party's Senate race strategy as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The DSCC has reported making some "coordinated expenditures" in concert with Fisher's campaign. Portman and Fisher have criticized each other's record but have largely ignored Brunner.
But Brunner said she has enthusiastic supporters. She said her campaign has more than 1,000 volunteers and that "most of my [nominating] signatures were collected in the months of December and January, in the cold, with people going door-to-door as volunteers."
Brunner, a former judge in Franklin County (Columbus) who was elected to her current post in 2006, thinks she appeals more to political independents than Fisher. She noted that Ohio has never elected a woman senator or even nominated a woman for that office in a contested primary election.
Brunner said that Ohio has high unemployment but that there is promising potential for job creation, especially in the "clean energy" and biomedical industries. A cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions "is going to be difficult, but it needs to happen," she said. "It's actually going to create jobs."
She sees the economy and health care as closely linked: "If a small business would be able to get some relief on providing health care, and health care that actually covered enough expenses for employees, they could afford to bring on more workers, even part-time," she said.
Brunner is eager to enter a new phase of public service. "I can do more than run a good election. I can do more than keep the files and the records of the state organized and accessible. I want to do more to make people's lives better," she said.
Source: CQ Politics
Ohio Secretary of State visits valley
by on 02.06.2010
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner wants to be Ohio's next U.S. Senator. Campaigning in the valley Thursday, she met with local mayors and labor leaders. Brunner says jobs are her number one priority. She also says the U.S. needs to re-examine it's tradea greements. "And how because of those policies did we lose so many jobs to other countries and it's happened in manufacturing and it's happening in the trades as well, because manufacturing and trades go hand in hand," says Brunner. Brunner is running for the seat of retiring Senator George Voinovich.
Source: WFMJ TV
Brunner Brings Senate Campaign to Valley
by on 02.05.2010
Jennifer Brunner likes the idea behind U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s proposal to direct work-force training dollars to economically distressed areas, but has an idea on how to improve it if she gets to join Brown as a colleague after this fall’s election.
Under the Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success Act, or SECTORS, which Brown introduced last year, the federal government would provide grants to support the development of specialized work force training programs to meet regional needs of emerging industries.
Brunner, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, said she would like to see five regional task forces of retired executives, union leaders and not-for-profit officials established statewide to oversee administration of the grants. She used a similar process when as a Franklin County judge she established a drug court.
“They would have specific time deadlines and they would be tasked with making sure if there was a logjam, they would be right on it,” she said.
During a press event Thursday, one of the local leaders endorsing Brunner, Niles Mayor Ralph Infante, recounted the difficulties his administration encountered over a $1.1 million underground sewage tank, which was to be paid for using federal stimulus funds. After getting the plans ready, the city received a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informing it that it didn’t have a required permit to install the tank, and the city eventually lost out on the grant.
“The Valley got left out again,” Infante said. “With Jennifer Brunner, she’s not going to forget us.” Brunner, he said, is “not afraid to make laws, enforce laws and do what she needs to do in any position she serves in.”
Source: Business Journal Daily
Brunner: I’ll win because I’ll work harder than Fisher
by on 02.05.2010
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said she isn’t concerned about the lack of campaign contributions she’s receiving in her bid to be the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.
That’s because Brunner said she’ll win the May primary by working harder than Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the other Democratic candidate for Senate.
. . .
“This campaign is not about money,” she said. “It’s about people because people vote. When money votes, it’s a really scary outcome.”
. . .
Despite the monetary difference, polls show Brunner and Fisher in a statistical dead heat.
Brunner said this primary is not a “traditional type of campaign where you throw a bunch of money at TV commercials and radio commercials. It’s a little bit like carrying water in a sieve.”
That’s because turnout isn’t expected to be high for the primary, and it’s a waste of money to pay to air commercials to people who aren’t “interested in your race,” she said.
. . .
Source: Youngstown Vindicator
Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Jennifer Brunner Unveils Worker Training Plan; Collects Endorsement
by on 02.04.2010
U.S. Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner called today for federal legislation to support the development of specialized workforce training programs that link two-year colleges and regional trades programs to local needs.
"This program is tailor-made to help the Mahoning Valley,'' Brunner told a news conference. "The work ethic in the Valley is unrivaled. Better workforce development will bring better jobs, and the training must be tailored to reflect regional strengths and needs as they differ throughout the state.''
Brunner's trip to the Mahoning Valley included a tour of the Electrical Trades Institute of Northeast Ohio, a facility that would benefit from her proposal. One of the unique features of the center is the training of electricians for assembling and installing wind turbines and solar panels, which she called "jobs of the 21st century.''
. . .
"Despite the region's high unemployment rate, clean energy jobs, often dubbed 'green' jobs, are emerging as a way to transition from traditional manufacturing and construction for skilled trades workers," she said. Training programs like the Electrical Trades Institute of Northeast Ohio are well positioned to provide the training needed for jobs that require specialized trade skills with education of more than a high school diploma.
Brunner's plan calls for using money repaid from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to provide training grants to regional stakeholders who collaborate to create sustainable jobs for developing regional industries. Stakeholders would include businesses, unions, two-year colleges, regional trades programs, and local workforce development programs. The stakeholders would develop specialized programs to train or re-train workers for jobs with a sustainable future that may be specific to the region.
The grant program would be administered by five regional task forces comprised of retired business and nonprofit executives and retired members of the state's building trades and manufacturing labor organizations. Task force members would be compensated for travel and expenses, select task force co-chairs, one from business and one from labor, operate for a finite period of time and be subject to deadlines for program startup, issuance of requests for proposals and grant awards, oversight and reporting.
. . .
While in the Valley, Brunner accepted the endorsement of Niles Mayor Ralph A. Infante.
"Jennifer Brunner is the candidate of ideas,'' Mayor Infante said. "She has a unique understanding of Ohio's economic challenges and has a series of thoughtful proposals to improve our economy.''
Source: Media Release
Daily Kos Serious about ‘going to war’—Let’s fight for Jennifer Brunner
by on 01.26.2010
I came here to DailyKos to learn how to elect more and better Democrats. Here I am to elect more/better Democrats. Jennifer Brunner fits both the more and better Democrat. Jennifer Brunner can win against Rob Portman. Lee Fisher likely cannot win against Rob Portman. You can do your own research on Lee Fisher and Rob Portman. I am a fan of Jennifer Brunner for the simple fact that she brought truth and justice back to the voting booth in Ohio after RW radical Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell screwed up so massively in 2000/2004. Because I grew up here but spent most of my adult life outside of Ohio, I have always loved Ohio and have observed the happenings from afar. I didn't live here during the ninties or the "roaring aughts", but now I am here and engaged.
Jennifer Brunner is a progressive voice in the wilderness.
Jennifer Brunner is a woman who can win the "Hillary voters".
Jennifer Brunner is an energizing force for the base.
Jennifer Brunner has integrity.
Source: Daily Kos
Brunner, Fisher make case to face Portman
by on 01.21.2010
. . .
The forum came a day after the Democratic Party took a body blow in the loss of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts, and that was certainly the backdrop for Wednesday evening's forum.
Brunner touched on the growing anxiety of Democrats indirectly when she said that the party does not have to give up its liberal principles to win elections.
"Should Democrats be moving to the center? No. Democrats should be focusing on issues that impact people's lives," she said.
Fisher said that it was his impression that the key issues in the Massachusetts election were the same that will dominate Ohio's politics this year - jobs and security. "Everything flows from that," he said.
During her question-and-answer period, Brunner said that if she is the Democratic nominee she will be a candidate more in the mold of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown than Democrat Martha Coakley - not in political philosophy, but in the way she approaches the campaign.
Brown, Brunner said, "was authentic, he was real and he spoke to the people's issues."
. . .
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer
There’s A Better Way To Fight Corporatism Among Democratic Insiders Than Empowering Teabaggers
by on 01.18.2010
Yesterday Blue America opened a new fundraising page, Send Democrats A Message They Can Understand. . . . It's about replacing reactionary Democrats who vote like Republicans-- Blue Dogs like John Barrow and Jane Harman-- with stalwart progressives. And it's about pointing out Democratic challengers in open races, like Doug Tudor, Jennifer Brunner, Ann Kuster and Colleen Hanabusa, who represent progressive values and who are opposing Insider Establishment candidates who will not stand for progressive values. Please take a look at the page and the candidates and see if you feel this might be a more constructive way for progressives to proceed than to just strike out angrily and give a GOP that is several degrees further right than Bush and Cheney an opportunity to get back into power.
Source: Down With Tyranny
Brunner Reviews Marietta Energy Project
by on 01.07.2010
When Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner visited Marietta last month, she wanted to see for herself how the City of Marietta has used its Energy Loan Funds. Brunner met with Mayor Michael Mullen, Councilman Harley Noland, and City Engineer Joe Tucker to discuss the project.
Tucker outlined how the city has leveraged funding from other sources, including American Electric Power, to replace lighting and heating systems in an effort to improve energy efficiency and lower costs. The improvements are expected to pay for themselves within three to five years time.
“We’re doing an audit, if you will, and looking at everything from lighting, HVAC, pumps, motors, traffic lights, street lights and looking at what kind of upgrades we can do that would cut our energy consumption and reduce our operating costs long term,” Tucker said. “We are looking at all of these projects with an eye on what’s the return on investment. What kind of payback would we have to make these investments?” . . .
Marietta seems to be ahead of the curve on this green endeavor. While more cities and counties are working on similar projects, Tucker said many of them are using an energy performance company. Instead, here city officials opted to work directly with engineering firms and contractors to more thoroughly comprehend the nature of the work and its impacts and applications in other areas.
It’s a philosophy Brunner said she embraces. “It’s easier to really keep track of what’s happening if you do it in an integrated way so that you’re really getting the best bang for the dollars,” Brunner agreed.
Source: Marietta Register
Brunner campaign “takes it to the streets” in Senate campaign
by on 01.07.2010
Jennifer Brunner’s U.S. Senate campaign will “take it to the streets” statewide this weekend, the campaign announced on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
The two-day statewide canvass to meet “friends and neighbors” will be on Saturday, Jan. 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Sunday, Jan. 10, from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at locations across the state, her campaign said.
Source: Dayton Daily News
Women candidates and money: Another double standard?
by on 01.06.2010
From the beginning, Jennifer Brunner has been told she shouldn’t run for Senate because she’s such a good Secretary of State. They need her there. This is one of the most classically lame “reasons” given to women as to why they shouldn’t run for higher office.
On top of that, she’s now being assaulted by her own party about her fundraising. Bob Menendez of the DSCC is threatening not to support her until she raises more money—despite the fact that many are saying she’s the only hope for a Democratic win (Lee Fisher reportedly lost his last two campaigns, despite outraising his opponent).
Unfortunately, we all know that fundraising is a necessary component of political campaigns. (That’s a whole different rant for a different day). However, I have to ask—would Menendez be pulling support from the more viable male candidate who wasn’t raising as much as his less-viable opponent? . . .
Source: RH Reality Check