Musical chairs among Summit County Democrats could give two party candidates an edge or even a clear path to victory in the upcoming primary races for county clerk of courts and state senate.
County council member Sandra Kurt, the second chair of the Summit County Democratic Party, said she plans to ask the party’s committee to appoint her to the county clerk of court’s position. The position was vacated this month by Dan Horrigan, who took over as Akron’s first elected mayor in nearly 30 years.
Kurt will make the request Thursday at a 7 p.m. meeting at North High School in Akron.
Should the committee accept Kurt’s request, the longtime community advocate will have three months to settle into the clerk position, which she will be running for in the Democratic primary in March.
The experience could help.
“It would make it easier to be elected,” said Democrat Bradford Carlton, her opponent in the primary.
Carlton, an Akron attorney who works with his wife in their Cuyahoga Falls law firm, said he too will ask to temporarily fill the clerk of courts job until voters pick a more permanent replacement in November.
If Kurt gets the clerk appointment, though, there could be more shuffling to fill her seat on county council.
Kurt said her county council seat might be filled by Elizabeth Walters, a candidate in another race this spring for Tom Sawyer’s term-limited seat in the state senate. Whether Walters, 32, would still run for Sawyer’s seat remains to be seen. Her opponent, state Rep. Vernon Sykes, carries strong name recognition into the primary.
At this point Kurt, is still a county councilwoman.
Walters, who has worked behind the scenes for the Democratic Party for a decade, could not be reached by phone to say whether she plans to seek Kurt’s seat if the councilwoman is appointed clerk of courts.
“Again, whoever would replace me would have to be appointed by the party committee. And my seat isn’t open yet,” said Kurt, an industrial engineer at Goodyear for more than 25 years.
Carlton, 29, and Kurt were originally in a three-way primary race for clerk of courts before fellow Democrat Neil Rothstein withdrew his name two days before New Year’s Day.
Whoever wins in the March primary, either Carlton or Kurt, will move on to face Republican Ann Marie O’Brien, a former president of the Akron Bar Association.
Meanwhile, Sykes, 64, could get a free ride in the primaries as Republican Jonathan Schulz, another under-30 candidate, awaits a Democratic challenger in the general election.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @DougLivingstonABJ.