(Cleveland) - The election for county government offices is not until next year, but there's already a candidate for Cuyahoga County Executive. Republican Lee Weingart has thrown his hat in the ring.
If Weingart's name sounds familiar, he was a member of the old Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, the three-person board that ran county government until voters replaced it with the current system of an elected executive, and an 11-member county council. He was appointed by Republican Party officials in 1995 to replace Jim Petro, who had been elected State Auditor. Weingart failed to keep the seat when he was defeated in the 1996 general election by Democrat Jane Campbell. Weingart now runs a lobbying firm, LNE Group.
Weingart told our partners at 3 News he's not interested in bringing back the old form of government, saying “We don't have a county government form problem. The structure doesn't really matter. It's a county government people problem. The wrong people are in charge.”
Current county executive, Democrat Armond Budish, has not said if he'll run for a third term.
(Photo courtesy LNE Group)
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