Ohio
Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown loses police endorsement for the first time in 12 years
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the first time since his Senate career began, Sherrod Brown has failed to earn the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police’s endorsement for re-election — and the union cites the Democrat’s tweet about a controversial shooting.
The Ohio FOP in 2006 endorsed then-Sen. and now-Gov. Mike DeWine, the Republican who lost his seat to Brown in an upset.
Since then, Brown has won the support of law enforcement, deftly navigating the blue-dog politics of an ever-reddening state. But not this year.
“It came down to a tweet,” said Mike Weinman, Ohio FOP spokesman and a retired officer who was paralyzed in the line of duty. “There was a shooting here, and Sherrod, instead of taking time to listen and talk to us and understand the situation, did what all these people do now and got on his phone. Brown made a comment. It’s a shame.”
The incident Weinman refers to dates back to 2021, when Columbus cop Nicholas Reardon fatally shot 16-year-old foster child Ma’Khia Bryant after responding to a domestic-violence call. He arrived at the scene to find Bryant swinging a knife at another young child in the home.
“When he arrived it was complete chaos,” Weinman told The Post. “She was using a weapon on an unarmed person so he had to unfortunately use his service weapon to neutralize the scene. Nobody in that house including the officer is happy that happened, let me tell you. But Brown spoke out quickly against the officer, and a lot of people I think remembered that during the vote.”
The senator tweeted one day after the April 21, 2021, shooting and tied it to another event that day: a former Minneapolis cop’s conviction for killing George Floyd.
“While the verdict was being read in the Derek Chauvin trial, Columbus police shot and killed a sixteen-year-old girl. Her name was Ma’Khia Bryant. She should be alive right now,” Brown wrote.
Bryant’s death also sparked Black Lives Matter protests — she was black, Reardon is white.
But the officer was cleared of wrongdoing, with a grand jury declining to charge him after a review found the shooting justified.
Weinman also says further “statements” from the senator about police may have cost him more votes.
“People here genuinely don’t know where he stands on things like George Floyd and qualified immunity. Our voters know their stuff, and he just wasn’t being clear enough about where he stands. Brown has always been great for supplies, vests, helping us get resources. But I think now our people aren’t as sure they can trust him,” he told The Post.
Weinman explained the endorsement process: An FOP committee screens a small batch of candidates for office. The approved candidates are then brought up for a floor vote.
“They called his name, and it was time,” Weinman said. “He missed it by four votes.”
Brown’s Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno, won’t receive the FOP endorsement this year either, but Weinman says this has more to do with procedure than politics.
“In the past, if a candidate failed to get the votes on the floor, a member could make a motion to suggest a new name, and we could have an immediate, direct vote,” Weinman said. “This year we changed that. Only names from the screening committee could be voted on, and only Brown made it past them.”
The committee passed on Moreno due to his lack of political experience.
“He’s too new,” Weinman said. “Great businessman, potential for sure. But he has to prove it. Like Vance did.”
By this, Weinman is referring to a similar vote in 2018 when then-Senate candidate J.D. Vance was able to win the prized endorsement over more experienced competitors.
“Vance really worked for it. He campaigned. Moreno ran out of time,” Weinman said.
He also confirmed the Ohio FOP will not be making any additional statewide endorsements for 2024.
Brown is the only prominent Democrat left in the soon-to-be-solid-red Ohio, making his race with Moreno one of the most expensive and closely watched in the nation.
Brown maintains a 6.5-point lead over Moreno, but experts expect endorsements like this one and Vance’s emerging role as a national campaigner to have a significant effect on the Buckeye State.
Photo:
Casey Laughter / Eclipse Sportswire
This year’s Preakness Stakes was advertised as the weak sister of the 2026 Triple Crown series. While Golden Tempo, Renegade, Commandment, and Chief Wallabee all took a hard pass on the middle jewel, they still ran the race at Laurel Park. The brunt of jokes before and after Napoleon Solo’s victory, the Preakness may yet enjoy the last laugh.
While Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor, the top two finishers from Maryland’s classic, will wait for the $1 million Haskell (G1) next month at Monmouth Park, Saturday’s $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) attracted a solid field of 3-year-old males to Thistledown. Included in the group was a quartet coming straight out of the Preakness, led by Chip Honcho and Ocelli.
Bull by the Horns and Robusta were longshots off their results at Laurel and they ran like it in Ohio. Chip Honcho and Ocelli, on the other hand, were well supported on Saturday after running third and fourth in the Preakness.
After the pair put away the favored Desert Gate at the top of the stretch, they battled it out down the lane. In the end, it was Chip Honcho getting the better of his rival late to pull clear to a one-length score in the Ohio Derby. The Lexington Stakes (G3) winner Trendsetter was able to rally and get by the favorite for third, but this really was a two-horse race down the Thistledown stretch.
Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden again by Jose Ortiz, Chip Honcho earned his second stakes win of his career, and his first of his sophomore season with the performance.
Before his solid third-place effort in the Preakness behind Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor, the son of Connect had run several good efforts in New Orleans, including a win in the Gun Runner and a strong second-place performance behind Paladin and ahead of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes hero Golden Tempo in the Risen Star (G2).
Despite his solid racing at Fair Grounds the decision was made to skip the Kentucky Derby with Chip Honcho and point for the Preakness instead. That decision already seems to be paying dividends.
On Saturday, he was steadied just a bit heading into the first turn but had already been asked to keep off the early lead set by Robusta. His ability to stalk from just off the pace in his last two races has seemingly made him a better and more dangerous horse.
When Ocelli rolled by him on the turn, he had to come up with a strong stretch drive to win and he did just that. Other than the Louisiana Derby, where he was hung out to dry a little bit early and faded to fifth, Chip Honcho has run nothing but good races in his career and looks to continue to be a player in the division as we move into the second half of the season.
As for Ocelli, I must admit that he was the one I was pulling for in the Ohio Derby. Also a son of the Curlin stallion Connect, he is a horse that I find it impossible not to root for.
After Saturday’s strong run for second, Ocelli has now run nine times in his career and remains winless. Sent off as the third choice in the Ohio Derby behind Desert Gate and Chip Honcho, the maiden once again ran a big race in defeat.
After displaying some rallying talent in his first three career starts, it has been a steady diet of stakes races and tough competition for the Whit Beckman-trained runner.
Even in the Sam F. Davis, won by Renegade, and the Virginia Derby, won by Incredibolt, Ocelli made his move from behind, but in both races, he was too immature to handle any adversity, and he backed out down the lane.
Undeterred, his connections were willing to keep trying. A solid rally to be third in the Wood Memorial (G2) was enough to get him into the Run for the Roses and his connections took full advantage. He actually briefly led in the stretch run of the Kentucky Derby, before finishing third as the longest shot on the board.
No horse was able to make up much ground in the Preakness, but Ocelli was the best of the late-runners, checking in 4th of 14. In the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the maiden finished ahead of all but 5 of the 30 horses he faced.
In the Ohio Derby, he had a wide trip and came with his patented rally under rider Tyler Gaffalione but could not hold off Chip Honcho in an exciting battle.
Despite still being winless in nine career starts, Ocelli has amassed $829,800. Not bad for a maiden, and not bad for a horse that was originally purchased for $12,000 as a yearling.
I cannot recall a maiden ever reaching the $1 million mark in earnings. I believe Ocelli has a chance to be the first. With a demanding schedule and a consistent far turn rally, it has been fun to watch the ride.
Chip Honcho and Ocelli, coming out of good efforts at Laurel Park, absolutely dominated Saturday’s Ohio Derby. Maybe we should start taking a more positive view of the 2026 Preakness Stakes.
MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) — The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Chardon Post is investigating a fatal plane crash that killed three people around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
According to a press release, about one mile east of the Geauga County Airport, a Piper Comanche 250 crashed into a field.
The plane sustained major damage — killing three Ohioans who were identified as Thomas A. Cunningham, 76, of Rome, John W. Taipale, 71, and Alexander C. Taipale, 40, both from Geneva.
OSHP was assisted by the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office, Geauga County Coroner’s Office, Geauga County Emergency Management Agency, Middlefield Fire Department and Community Care Ambulance.
The Western Reserve Port Authority, Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport’s executive director, Anthony Trevena, reached out to our team with a statement regarding the crash.
“We were heartbroken to learn that members of our extended YNG and Youngstown aviation family, were victims in today’s crash in Geagua County. Our deepest condolences go out the Cunningham and Taipale families. We ask that their privacy please be respected during this difficult time. The FAA and NTSB are leading the investigation to determine the cause and will provide any updates as information becomes available.,” Trevena said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the crash.
The crash remains under investigation.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — As concerns have grown over the impact of social media on young people, lawmakers are pushing to keep protections in tact to keep children safe online.
This week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio’s law, the Social Media Parental Notification Act, requiring parental consent for children under the age of 16 to use social media must be restored. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the act into law in July 2023.
Netchoice, the trade group that represents Tik Tok, Snapchat, Meta and other tech companies contested Ohio’s law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.
“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” Paul Taske, NetChoice Litigation Center Director said.
Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit’s panel does not agree with this view point, determined that the law is not unconstitutional and had the block on the law’s enforcement vacated.
“At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement,” Judge Eric Clay wrote. “That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them.”
The Social Media Parental Notification Act is a way to protect children’s mental health against the “intentionally addictive” nature of social media, according to U.S. senator Jon Husted.
The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson says the ruling is “a win for Ohio families.”
“The court agreed that parents –- not social media companies –- should get a say in what kids see online,” he said in a statement. “We have an obligation to keep our children safe, and today, the most dangerous place for our kids is the internet. This decision gives parents the tools to be involved and provide oversight.”
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