Brunner News
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
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
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner visits Beachwood; launches Web site
by on 12.21.2009
. . . Brunner toured the Beachwood Business Development Center that promotes the growth of local and international early stage companies. The center is a partnership between the city, Cleveland State University and the Beachwood business community.
“We are pleased that the Secretary of State came to Beachwood and our Business Development Center to roll out her new initiative and tour our incubator facility. It was a nice external validation of our job creation program,” said Vince Adamus, the city’s economic development director. . . .
Source: Sun Press
FirstRead: 2010
by on 12.15.2009
OHIO: Secretary of State and Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner, who penned a Huffington Post op-ed against President Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan last month, was asked by progressive Ohio blogger Tim Russo whether she would vote against additional funding for the war. “The last thing I would ever do would be to short the troops the supplies and equipment they need to be safe and successful,” Brunner answered.
Source: MSNBC.com
Video: Local Company Honored for Innovation
by on 12.11.2009
The Secretary of State made a stop in Dayton on Wednesday, December 9, to spotlight what she calls one of the most innovative companies in Ohio.
Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, said the four-person Daytac team is a great example of what small businesses can accomplish.
"The biggest issue that Ohioans are facing right now is the loss of jobs" said Brunner. "We have so much innovation here in Ohio".
Brunner, who is running for U.S Senate, said she wants to highlight the resourcefulness of residents.
Source: WDTN-TV
Brunner Hosts Forum in Marietta
by on 12.10.2009
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner visited Marietta on December 1 as part of a series of statewide panel discussions on women’s health care, as well as child and elder care and related topics. The timing for the discussions stems from new information that women now make up more than half of the American workforce, and also that the current recession has dislocated more male than female workers, at a rate of nearly three to one.
“Women are major breadwinners in the country,” Brunner said. “Looking at those issues, women and men need more flexibility with how we handle our time and our workplace, so that we can family obligations as well as work obligations.”
The forum was conducted at Washington State Community College and was the first step in what Brunner said would be a months-long effort to craft new policies aimed at assisting families having difficulty navigating the current health care system. According to Brunner, low-income families are not the only ones facing such difficulties.
“I’m not talking about people in poverty. These are middle-class people who are struggling because we have a system that doesn’t really fit any more.”
Source: The Marietta Register