![Hillary Clinton, at a campaign visit in Cleveland in 2016, endorsed Shontel Brown for Marcia Fudge's Congressional seat Wednesday. [Nick Castele / ideastream]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9600206/2147483647/strip/true/crop/980x553+0+0/resize/840x474!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F6%2F16%2F2016clinton.jpg)
Former senator and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is endorsing Shontel Brown in the special election to fill Marcia Fudge’s U.S. House seat.
Clinton tweeted a link to Brown’s fundraising page Wednesday, asking followers to support the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chairwoman’s campaign.
“Shontel made history as the first Black woman to chair her county Dem party, and she'll work to help her state and our country recover from COVID,” Clinton wrote.
Brown retweeted the endorsement a few minutes later, adding a message of her own.
“Secretary Hillary Clinton has been an inspiration to me for decades. She is a champion for working families,” Brown tweeted. “I’m thrilled and honored that she endorsed our campaign for Congress. We have so much work to do for Northeast Ohio. Let’s win this campaign, and get to work.”
Brown is competing for the 11th Congressional District seat with several candidates, including former state Sen. Nina Turner, a prominent supporter Clinton’s 2016 opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Turner co-chaired Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, and Sanders has endorsed her congressional bid.
Fudge stepped down earlier this year to accept President Joe Biden's nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A special primary in Ohio's only majority Black congressional district will be held Aug. 3. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 2
