Brown names 2018 campaign leadership team

ACKISON WINS COUNTY ENDORSEMENT:

Last week Greene County delivered Republican U.S. Senate candidate Melissa Ackison her first major win in primary endorsements.  In their first round of voting to endorse a candidate, the Greene County Republican Central Committee chose Ackison.

She received 39 votes, to 32 for U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, and 24 for Cleveland area investment banker Mike Gibbons.

The close vote caused the committee to go into a second round of voting to decide between Ackison and Renacci.

After only a few minutes, they overwhelmingly endorsed Ackison.

Ackison’s campaign said the candidate has long pleaded with the Ohio Republican Party and local Republican Central Committee chapters to not endorse and “let the people decide.”

BROWN ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP TEAM:

Friends of Sherrod Brown announced the final members of its campaign leadership last week, with the hiring of Semedrian Smith, who has joined the campaign as deputy campaign manager.

Entering the election year, Friends of Sherrod Brown had nearly $10 million cash on hand and well over 100,000 individual donors.

Other senior staff include campaign manager Justin Basaksy, who served as communications director in Brown’s 2012 campaign, deputy campaign manager Semedrian Smith, who was a top political staffer on Ralph Northam’s successful run for Virginia governor in 2017, finance director Kimberly Padilla, political director Denny Wojtanowski, digital director Catherine Gabel, research director Megan Hughes and communications director Preston Maddock.

Brown, the Democratic incumbent, is seek a third term in the U.S. Senate.