CLEVELAND – Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown hasn’t leaned much on heavy hitters to boost his campaign for reelection, but on Monday he brought one to Cleveland – former President Bill Clinton – to remind party faithful to get out the vote.

The message to several hundred party activists, elected Democrats and organized labor gathered at Cleveland States’ Wolstein Center was clear: Don’t let up now.

Speaker after speaker, including Brown and Clinton, urged supporters to call or text five people to encourage them to vote.

“You’ve got one more day,” Clinton said. “There’s a lot of people who haven’t voted yet. There’s a lot of people who don’t know who they’re going to vote for yet. You’ve got a lot of people who haven’t decided if they’re going to vote.”

Election 2024: An Ohio guide to the November election

Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, was making his closing argument in a race that has been the most closely watched — and expensive — U.S. Senate election in the country this year. His race against Republican businessman Bernie Moreno could decide which party controls the Senate.

Moreno brought in his own closers over the weekend, campaigning with conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, and Republican Sens. Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. Last week, Donald Trump Jr. and a revolving door of Republican senators joined Moreno on the campaign trail.

An appearance by a former president, however, has been a rarity in Ohio this campaign cycle. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, endorsed Moreno and has appeared in his campaign ads but hasn’t been to Ohio to provide ground-level support since March, when Moreno was still locked in a primary fight.

Bringing Clinton to Cleveland on the eve of the election is no accident. Cleveland would be a key piece for a Brown election win. Cuyahoga County is reliably Democratic and the second largest county in the state.

Clinton carried Ohio in both the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections. At the time, Ohio was a battleground state that demanded attention from the presidential candidates, but both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, have largely been absent from the Buckeye State this cycle. Trump has won Ohio by 8 percentage points in both his presidential runs and is expected to win again this year.

Clinton’s appeal for Brown and other Democrats on the Ohio ballot was made to party faithful that will be helping mobilize voters to turn out on Tuesday. One thing about the “hard right” that Clinton said he admired is that they never give up.

“You should never give up,” Clinton said.

Brown is the only Ohio Democrat still holding a non-judicial statewide office in Ohio. He has been preaching a message of the dignity of work and connecting with key groups of voters, such as blue-collar Ohioans.

That was a message he reiterated Monday.

“For me, everything comes down to the dignity of work. If you work hard, you should get ahead,” he told the crowd. “For me, it’s all about whose side you’re on” — working class people or big business and Wall Street.

Turnout could be key for Brown on Tuesday.

His last election was in 2018, when he defeated Republican Jim Renacci while a slate of Republicans swept other state offices.

But this election, one with a presidential race on the ballot, is expected to have greater turnout. The challenge for Brown is to collect enough votes to top Moreno, even as Trump is expected to carry the state. Brown has collected some Republican endorsements to help bolster his case, including that of former Gov. Bob Taft, so far, the only Republican to beat Brown in a race.

And toward that goal, strong turnout in Cleveland, Brown’s home, and Cuyahoga County can offset a lot of Republican votes from other parts of the state.

Joining Brown and Clinton were a host of elected leaders and candidates – members of Cleveland City Council, Democratic state legislators, Supreme Court candidates, including two sitting justices, and U.S. Reps. Joyce Beatty of Columbus and Shontel Brown of Warrensville Heights.

They also made the same kind of plea: Call five people. Text five people. Help get people to vote.

Shontel Brown, who jokingly talked about support for her “cousin Sherrod,” said fate of the Senate hangs in the balance – not just because Sherrod Brown winning could be key to Democrats retaining control, but also because without him, working Ohioans will have no voice in the Senate.

That’s why turning out the vote is important, she said.

Getting that kind of turnout, though, requires a lot of boots on the ground, and that’s something Brown made clear he is grateful for – people to make phone calls to voters and people to visit households.

“With this race, and all the work door to door, I so appreciate the support of the labor movement,” Brown said. That support was evident at Monday’s event, as people repeatedly called out responses and cheers to his message.

Clinton told the crowd he always felt a sense of kinship with Brown because of his efforts to promote dignity for all workers.

“I’m probably the last president who will have lived in a house with no indoor plumbing. We were working people with dignity,” he said. “Sherrod keeps score the old-fashioned way. Are people better off than they were before?”

CLEVELAND, OH — While the Grand Rapids Griffins didn’t give up much to their opponent on Sunday night, they didn’t produce a whole lot either to finish up their extended weekend.

In their first meeting with the Cleveland Monsters, the Griffins were not able to generate a ton of offense, leading to a 3-1 defeat, the team’s third loss in a row.

The Griffins fell behind the Columbus Blue Jackets’ American Hockey League affiliate early on, as Roman Ahcan beat Grand Rapids goaltender Sebastian Cossa for his sixth goal of the season just over four minutes into the contest.

However, a great play by two of the Detroit Red Wings’ prospects leveled the score just past the halfway mark of the frame. First-year Griffin Jakub Rychlovsky made a nice pass to Amadeus Lombardi, who made a great play to get around Monster netminder Zach Sawchenko to pot his fifth of the campaign.

Elmer Soderblom was awarded the secondary assist on the goal, his first of the season.

Unfortunately for GR, they wouldn’t be able to keep the game tied for long, as Ahcan was able to sneak a shot over Cossa with just over a minute to play in the first.

Grand Rapids had a couple of chances in the middle stanza, putting nine shots on goal. Yet, they could not find the equalizer. Things didn’t get any better for the Griffins in the final 20 minutes. While they attempted to create some scoring chances, they were only to put three shots on goal in the third period. Owen Sillinger put the icing on the cake with an empty-net goal in the final minute to give the Monsters the win.

The Monsters have beaten Grand Rapids in seven of the last nine meetings.

The Griffins were outshot 26-18 by Cleveland on Sunday, including 12-3 in the final frame. In 10 games this season, Grand Rapids has ended up on the wrong end of the shot counter every time. Cossa did all he could to give his team a chance, making 23 stops in his third regulation defeat of the campaign. Sawchenko, who had to be sharp when called upon, registered just his second win of the young season, turning away 17 shots.

Each team had a pair of chances on the power play, with both the Griffins and the Monsters coming up empty on the man advantage.

Grand Rapids (6-3-1-0) still holds the second-best winning percentage in the Central Division (.650), trailing the Milwaukee Admirals. Cleveland (4-3-0-1) is fifth among teams in the North with a .563 winning percentage.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Griffins go back on the road for a couple of matchups against divisional rivals, beginning on Thursday against the Iowa Wild in their annual School Day Game.

The Wild (3- 6-1-0) struggled in the early going, losing each of their first seven games of the season, finally snapping their losing skid last Tuesday against the Chicago Wolves. They have now won each of their last three after sweeping the San Jose Barracuda this weekend.

Thursday morning will mark the first of eight matchups between Iowa and Grand Rapids this year. The Griffins took seven of the eight meetings in 2023-24.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Home games in BOLD)

• Thursday, Nov. 7 @ Iowa Wild (11:30 a.m. ET)
• Friday, Nov. 8 @ Rockford IceHogs (8 p.m. ET)
• Wednesday, Nov. 13 vs. Rockford IceHogs (11 a.m. ET)
• Friday, Nov. 15 vs. Chicago Wolves (7 p.m. ET)
• Saturday, Nov. 16 @ Milwaukee Admirals (7 p.m. ET)

You can watch and listen to the Griffins all season long on AHL.TV

Find AHL standings and results here

Veronica “Roni” Neiman

OBITUARY

Veronica “Roni” Neiman (nee Zawistowski) age 86, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, sadly passed away on November 1, 2024. Roni was born July 21, 1938, in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Holy Name High School and Ursuline College. She and her sister Chris were professional singers (The Zawie Sisters) and also sang in local polka bands. Roni spent much of her working career (18 years) at The Lubrizol Corporation.Roni lived family first, she enjoyed singing, dancing, musicals, her Polish heritage, cruises with her husband, living 10 years in Las Vegas, and watching the Cleveland Indians and Browns.Roni was the heart of our home and family and will be dearly missed. She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Edward R. Neiman Sr. She raised four children, Christine (Neiman) Smith, Edward R. Neiman Jr. (Kathleen), Richard A. Neiman (Annie) and Elizabeth (Neiman) Mould (Jack) in a happy and loving home. She was also a grandmother to Melissa Smith, Steven Smith II, Jack Neiman, Devyn Neiman, and Alex Mould. She was preceded in death by her mother Sophie Hermann, sister Chris Mauer, and her loving poodle, Lovette.A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday Nov. 6 at 12:30 PM at St. Gabriel Church, 9925 Johnnycake Ridge Rd. in Concord Twp. The Family will receive friends Tuesday Nov. 5 from 3-7 PM at Brickman Bros. Funeral Home, 37433 Euclid Ave. in Willoughby. In lieu of flowers, contributions to Hospice of the Western Reserve, P. O. Box 72101, Cleveland, Ohio 44192 (www.hospicewr.org/Give) would be appreciated.