Deirdre Shesgreen

dshesgreen@usatoday.com

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Rob Portman narrowly won an endorsement Friday from the Black Lives Matter of Cuyahoga County, a surprise development in an already unpredictable election season.

“Most of us, even though we’re Democrats, weren’t impressed with Ted Strickland at all,” the group’s president, Jeff Mixon, told the Enquirer on Friday.

He said the organization’s seven-member executive board voted on the endorsement—with four supporting Portman and three preferring Strickland. The Cuyahoga County chapter has 52 members in all, Mixon said.

Formed in response to the recent police shootings of African-American males, the national Black Lives Matter movement has been more in sync with Democratic candidates like Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who has talked about the need to restore trust between law enforcement and the minority communities they police.

At the GOP convention in Cleveland, Republican nominee Donald Trump and other speakers openly spurned the Black Lives Matter movement and dismissed assertions that police engage in racial profiling.

The Cuyahoga County group, which is not affiliated with the national organization, endorsed Clinton in the presidential election. In its endorsement of Portman, the Black Lives Matter group acknowledged its support for Portman could spark dissension.

“In the current atmosphere of identity politics, BLMCC understands that endorsing even a well-qualified Republican such as Portman seems controversial; despite the fact that it was minorities who suffered the brunt of Ted Strickland’s gross financial mismanagement,” Mixon states in the endorsement, which was first reported by Politico.

After Politico initally reported the news, the national organization distanced itself from the Cuyahoga County group, with co-founder Patrisse Cullors telling the news outlet that it's “not an official chapter of our BLM network."



Strickland’s spokesman, David Bergstein, also sought to downplay the importance of the group’s support, saying another group-- Black Lives Matter Cleveland--is the group's main chapter in that region.

“Ted has a strong record of fighting for Ohio’s African American communities and working families, and will continue to do so in the Senate,” Bergstein said.

Later in the day, Strickland's campaign blasted out a statement of support from Cleveland City Councilman Terrell Pruitt, a further effort to counter Portman's support from the Cuyahoga County group.

“Governor Strickland has incredibly strong support from the African-American community in Cleveland and across Ohio," Pruitt said in the statement. "We remember when Ted championed programs like Closing The Achievement Gap to specifically help young African Americans graduate high school, prepare them to pursue opportunities throughout their lives and achieve their dreams."

Mixon told the Enquirer that the group’s decision was in part a move to shake up the usual political order—sending a message to Democrats that they can’t automatically assume they will have black voters’ support and sending a message to other African-Americans that they should examine candidates’ records closely.

“We think the Democratic Party is able to take us for granted, to the point where they don’t have to do a damn thing for us,” Mixon said.

Although other Republicans have shied away from the Black Lives movement, Portman's campaign on Friday said it welcomed the support and showed his appeal across party lines.

"We are honored that Rob's positive vision for the future has attracted support from all corners of Ohio," said Portman's campaign spokesperson, Michawn Rich.