Jennifer Farmer, a campaign surrogate for Ohio congressional candidate Nina Turner, spoke out Wednesday against the influx of big money in the race, calling it “very upsetting.”
In an interview with Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Farmer weighed in on fundraising by corporate lobbyists for Turner’s primary opponent Shontel Brown, who has attracted support from moderate Democrats.
“My message to people who are interested in ‘Medicare for All,’ people who are concerned about the climate crisis, people who are concerned about addressing poverty is we can take nothing for granted. And that means that with the influx of money from all the entities … people in the district have to support a progressive champion,” Farmer said.
“When people see the influx of outside influences trying to dictate what people in this district want and what they need, it’s very upsetting,” she added.
In mid-June, a fundraiser for Brown was headlined by Jerome Murray, a registered lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, and Virgil Miller, a CVS Health lobbyist. The fundraiser came one day after Turner aired a campaign ad in which she detailed how her mother’s experience without health insurance led her to support Medicare for All.
As early voting opened Wednesday, Turner was leading in polling and donations.
Turner and Brown are competing in a special House election to succeed former Rep. Marcia Fudge (D), who is now Housing and Urban Development secretary.
Farmer said the numbers in Turner’s favor are a sign that her progressive platform priorities, like the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, are resonating across the district.
“When you are from a community that is among the poorest of large cities, when we see the threats that inaction on the climate have caused, when you see the devastation that’s wrought by inaccessible and unaffordable health care, it kind of pushes you to be bold,” Farmer said. “Her support, if you judge that by the fundraising numbers that she’s seeing, this is what people want, and it’s what they expect.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) gave Turner a ringing endorsement Monday, saying she is the “only one climate champion in the race” and “understands the need to address the global climate emergency through bold and transformational investment in our nation’s human and physical infrastructure.”
The endorsement follows those of fellow progressives Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Turner was a co-chair of Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign.
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