The Long, Boring Joke of Racial Politics: "A [certain ethnic] guy, a [certain ethnic] guy, and a [certain ethnic] guy walk into a Democratic Party..."
Since the turbulent 1960's when riots and white flight changed the racial composition of our beloved Clevelandia, the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party (three co-chairs) and/or the Cuyahoga County government (three commissioners) has been headed by an Irish-American, an African-American, and an Italian-American. The business of regional governance has been left to This Holy Trinity, with the occasional, grudging acceptance of a fourth.
From The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:
The Democrats were a minority party during the years of the CITY MANAGER PLAN; however, with the plan's demise in 1931 Democrat RAY T. MILLER† was elected mayor. In the 1930s the party split into factions as Miller and MARTIN L. SWEENEY† fought for control. Ultimately, Miller was declared party chairman in 1940, and aided by the success of the New Deal he made Cleveland a Democratic stronghold by securing the political allegiance of both the AFRICAN AMERICANS and the nationality groups and consolidating the party organization. As more Democrats moved to the suburbs in the early 1960s, the party began to organize its latent strength there. Party unity was challenged when the 21st Dist. Caucus was organized by a group of black Democrats in 1970 to provide unified backing for the candidates of their choice. The caucus's name and membership boundaries came from the congressional district of Louis Stokes, who was elected chairman. In an effort to reestablish party unity, the regular Cuyahoga County Democratic party named 3 co-chairmen, George Forbes, Anthony Garofoli, and Hugh Corrigan in 1972. When Corrigan resigned in 1976, Forbes and Garofoli ran the party until Timothy Hagan was elected chairman in 1978. In 1982 John M. Coyne succeeded him as party chairman. Coyne resigned in Dec. 1993. Roosevelt Coats, the party's vice-chair, was acting chair until Jan. 1994, when Jimmy Dimora was elected to the unexpired term. Dimora was elected to a full 4-year term in June of 1994.
[Encyclopedia of Cleveland History]
This delicate, unspoken balance of power has touched upon every political decision and public works project Clevelandia has known in the second half of the twentieth century.
Now, consider this:
From The Plain Dealer,"Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Builds Powerful Political Network in Northeast Ohio, Mark Puente, March 28, 2010:
Political master: When longtime County Prosecutor John T. Corrigan stepped down in 1991, Mason was a young assistant prosecutor who wanted Corrigan's son, Michael, to get the job. But the Democratic Party's central committee, the largely anonymous foot soldiers who often determine which people get coveted political posts, passed over Michael Corrigan and appointed Stephanie Tubbs Jones.
"It was an education for everyone involved," Mason told The Plain Dealer in 1998. "We decided then to take control of the process so it would never happen again."
Mason joined with like-minded young West Side and suburban Democrats, whose goal was to wrest control of the county party from the people who long had been running it.
Mason and his allies spent the next four years amassing votes and support in the Democratic Central Committee. The coalition eventually paved the way for Mason's appointment as prosecutor when Tubbs Jones went to Congress in 1998.
[M. Puente]
And, also, consider this:
From The Plain Dealer, "Jimmy Dimora's Indictment Caps the Crumbling of His Political Machine", Henry Gomez, September 15, 2010:
Intent on securing a position of status within his beloved party, Dimora ended 1992 by beating out lawyer Frederick Middleton in an intraparty battle for a seat on the Board of Elections.
A close contest -- Dimora prevailed by one vote -- exposed deep racial tensions.
Because the open seat had been held by a black man, Stokes and others had favored Middleton, a black man, to fill the vacancy. The celebration was short-lived for Dimora, whose selection to the board was soon challenged by then-Ohio Secretary of State Bob Taft.
Taft, a Republican, cited problems with Dimora's campaign finance reports. The Ohio Supreme Court eventually sided with Dimora.
Hard as it is today to imagine a time where Dimora was a political underdog, in the early 1990s, he was an outsider, a man with whom many weren't quite comfortable.
That changed after Dimora triumphed his way to the elections board seat. In little more than a year, he was the only nominee to replace John Coyne as chairman of the Democratic Party.
As with Dimora, it is hard today to imagine such a political institution so down in the dumps. But in 1994, the party was bleeding money and reeling from the racial battles in which Dimora starred. And while Republicans weren't exactly a force, they weren't afterthoughts, either.
"We have a difficult task ahead of us in rebuilding this party," Dimora, who was 38 at the time, told about 500 party faithful assembled the day he was elected party chairman. "I call for unity. Unity from the East Side and the West Side, city and suburb, black and white."
Making peace with Stokes, whose long tenure in Congress made him the region's preeminent politician, regardless of race, proved to be a nearly impossible task. In 1995, Stokes and then-Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White blasted Dimora's efforts on behalf of black Democrats.
"Jimmy Dimora has not given any leadership in terms of trying to compensate the black community in Cleveland for the loyalty they have given to the Democratic Party," Stokes told The Plain Dealer at the time. On a radio show, White called the party "anti-African-American."
Dimora reacted angrily and suggested Stokes and White were unhappy with his rise.
"I'm trying to bring people into the process, but I will not go to people who want to call the shots," he told the newspaper. "If that is what Lou Stokes wants from me, he can count me out."
Both sides resolved their differences, but only temporarily.
When then-County Recorder Frank Russo left for the auditor's office in 1997, Stokes saw an opening for another black in countywide office. He pushed for Roosevelt Coats, the black Cleveland councilman who had beat Dimora for the party's vice chairmanship years earlier.
The party backed Patrick O'Malley, a white Cleveland councilman.
The following year, Stokes, about to retire from Congress, tried his best to keep Dimora from winning the job his adversary long had coveted: county commissioner. Stokes endorsed then-State Sen. Patrick Sweeney, Dimora's chief rival for the Democratic nomination.
So determined Stokes seemed to be to defeat Dimora, he bypassed a high-profile black candidate, Cleveland Councilman Bill Patmon. But with strong backing from organized labor and suburban officials, Dimora upset Sweeney and easily won the general election that November.
"He just bellowed and laughed and hand-shook his way through the election," Patmon recalled today. "Had it went a different way, it probably would have changed the landscape of Cuyahoga County immeasurably."
Over time, Dimora demonstrated his appreciation of blacks who had been faithful to the party. In 2002, he put his party capital on the line by endorsing Peter Lawson Jones, a black state representative, over O'Malley for a vacancy on the board of commissioners. Jones won.
[H. Gomez]
And, finally,from a timeline eulogizing Dimora's political career, consider this:
From The Plain Dealer, "Jimmy Dimora's Rise and Fall: A Timeline" Staff, September 15, 2010:
1994: Elected chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, primarily with the support of the West Side Democratic Coalition, a group that included Bill Mason, Pat O'Malley, Dan Brady, Nancy McDonnell, Steve Dever, and Tom Coyne.
[work in progress]
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