Lee Weingart is making a big bet this election season: that Cuyahoga County – which often overwhelmingly votes blue – will elect its first Republican County Executive
Part of candidate Weingart’s hope for appeal with voters is that Ohio is a “Republican state,” he said during an October candidate forum hosted by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and First Suburbs Consortium.
“Being a Republican is a huge disadvantage in running for county executive,” he said. “But Ohio is a Republican state. The General Assembly will be Republican on November 9th and the governor will also be a Republican. If you want someone who can bring back more money, hire a Republican as your next county executive.”
Beyond the “R” in front of his name, Weingart paints a unique figure in the contested race this fall against Democrat Chris Ronayne. This is the first political race in a while for the former County Commissioner – the last Republican to hold that seat before voters adopted a new form of government in 2009 in the wake of a county corruption scandal.
In the time since his county commissioner stint, Weingart started LNE Group, a lobbying firm which has secured funding for outfits ranging from local governments and nonprofits to a petrochemical company to White Castle. It’s named for his children Lizzy, Ned and Ethan.
He said he’s secured more than $800 million in government funding for various entities, with $150 million for Cuyahoga County clients alone. Weingart said he’s still technically president of the firm, but said he “deregistered” from all federal and state clients while campaigning. To avoid any further conflicts of interest if elected, he said he plans to follow “any protocol” setup by the county inspector general, and consult with ethics lawyers.
“I won’t show any preference to any current clients or former clients of LNE group” if elected, Weingart said.
Weingart’s platform doesn’t appear to delve much into this year’s typical Republican talking points. The main planks, according to his website and comments made during public appearances, revolve around the overhaul of social services, criminal justice reform and affordable housing.
And he said he does not align with the “stolen vote” wing of the party fueled by former President Donald Trump.
“Joe Biden won the election fair and square,” he said after a recent debate.
On the contentious issue of abortion, where Ohio’s Republican legislators have pushed for post-Roe restrictions, and other national issues pushed by Republicans, however, he demurred.
“So the good news in running for county executive is, those issues don't come up,” he said. “So abortion, prayer in school, building walls, taking down walls, those are federal and state issues.”
Weingart, like his Democratic opponent, is betting big on reforming a county government that they see as failing in its essential services. And he also opposes building a new county jail on a former oil refinery site that has environmental issues.
One of Weingart’s signature plans is his "10,000 Homes for Cuyahoga County" initiative. It would provide loans to 5,000 new homebuyers and 5,000 current owners who need to fix up their properties.
“If we can keep people in their homes longer in Ward 1, in Maple Heights and the other parts of the southeast side of Cleveland and the county, we will generate wealth and securities I talked about and make those communities safer and more successful.”
Weingart styles the policy as capitalism at its best, a way to rebuild Black wealth in Cuyahoga County, noting redlining practices that excluded Black families from home loans in the mid-20th century.
“My 10,000 Homes initiative is a make good, a make good for what our federal government did to Black families 90 years ago,” he said.
Knocking on doors
We catch up with Weingart as he campaigns door-to-door on a warm fall evening in North Olmsted. He peered through reading glasses at an app on his phone detailing people who have picked up absentee ballots. He’s looking at Republican and Democrat voters alike.
His proposal to freeze property tax values for seniors making less than $50,000 a year grabs some enthusiasm from one older voter. However, implementing that program would require a change to state law. Weingart said he’s working with a state legislator on that front.
Another policy that’s been popular on the campaign trail, Weingart said, is eliminating RITA, the Regional Income Tax Agency. Many residents typically pay income taxes both to the city they live in and where they work. He would replace the income taxes people currently pay with a 2 to 2.5% across-the-board county income tax.
A group of local mayors and city managers expressed concern with that proposal earlier this year, noting it could have “inequitable outcomes and severe negative consequences,” with some taxpayers potentially paying more and some communities receiving less revenue.
Weingart responded that “most taxpayers” will see a reduction in their local income taxes paid under his proposal.
In terms of his criminal justice reform plan, Weingart said on his campaign website that he planned to convene a working group to assess several issues to create policy priorities around bail reform, diversion programs and re-entry initiatives. He also pitched an "expungement court," to be located at the Cuyahoga County Global Center for Health Innovation which he called a "regrettable expenditure."
In debates, Weingart has attempted to paint himself as an advocate for smaller government, and has promised to not support any tax increases. He say he’s also pro-business, pointing out during the Neighborhood Progress forum the LNE Group’s efforts to help businesses apply for pandemic-related relief last year.
“I walked the streets of Ward 1 with Joe Jones and Ward 9 with Kevin Conwell, knocking on the doors of restaurants and saying, ‘hey, there’s this great program available from Washington, D.C. to help your business survive the pandemic,” he reported.
For Angela Sharpley, owner of Pipe’n Hot Grill, a seafood restaurant in Cleveland, Weingart and his firm were the only ones to help her business secure financial assistance during the pandemic.
“He didn’t charge me a dollar,” she said. “And he even hires our business to do small catering jobs.”
Weingart hopes to spur the county to do more on that front with a $10 million fund to provide training and startup capital for what he calls “urban entrepreneurs.” He’s also advocating for an increase to the county’s required minority business participation rate, from 10% to 25%.
Weingart said it’s policies like these, and his background as a lobbyist who got things done for local businesses and organizations, that show he’s ready to lead the county as its next executive.
