COLUMBUS, Ohio — The most contentious primary race in Cuyahoga County has two candidates facing off against incumbent state Rep. Elliot Forhan, a lawmaker who has faced controversy after Democratic leadership issued a 19-page memo about “abusive behavior.” He has denied all of it.
House District 21 represents a portion of the East side suburbs and part of Cleveland — including Euclid, South Euclid, Lyndhurst, Beachwood and University Heights and an eastern part of each of the Cleveland neighborhoods of North and South Collinwood and Euclid Park. The Democratic stronghold has more than 125,000 residents.
Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau interviewed each of the three Democratic candidates, asking them the same questions. At the end, candidates were allowed to address the drama related to the race.
This story has been edited lightly for clarity and to provide the crux of each response. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order.
A brief on the candidates
Elliot Forhan
Forhan is currently holding this seat in his second year as a state representative. He is also a lawyer who got his degree from Yale University. He grew up in Athens, Ohio. He now lives in South Euclid.
Forhan has not received any endorsements from public officials or parties.
Eric Synenberg
Synenberg is currently serving on the Beachwood City Council. He is also an attorney, getting his degree from the Cleveland State University College of Law. He grew up in Beachwood, where he currently lives.
He has been endorsed by state Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson), state Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid), former Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, Former House Speaker Armond Budish, the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund, Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council and numerous mayors and members of council from around his district and more.
He was preliminarily chosen as the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party candidate, but the party didn’t make an official endorsement for anyone at the full vote.
Angel Washington
Washington is a healthcare consulting business owner and works with the Central Outreach Wellness Center. She got her business degree from American InterContinental University, a private for-profit university. She grew up in East Cleveland and currently lives in North Collingwood.
She has been endorsed by the Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus, Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce PAC, Ohio Working Families Party, Cleveland State University Democrats, 3.14 Action Fund, Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, Matriots Ohio PAC and the Assoc. Of Cleveland Fire Fighters Local 92 and numerous council members across the area and more.
Washington was the closest to getting the full endorsement during the full Cuyahoga Co. Democratic Party vote. She received 57.5% of the vote, when it requires 60%.
To the interviews
Why are you running?
Forhan: "I am the most effective at enacting and enforcing the values that we share as Democrats values, like making our community stronger and fairer for everyone, where the rich pay their fair share, we lift up the middle class and everybody can achieve the American dream.”
Synenberg: "We need to have more balance, legislatively, judicially and executive branch. But public service is something that I am passionate about. I'm a third-generation public servant in Northeast Ohio, it's in my blood."
Washington: “I'm running because I felt as though with the state of the affairs that we currently have that we had, our district had just been neglected. I actually have my feet on the ground and my fingers on the pulse all the time. I am ready to fight for those issues."
What is your platform? Choose one issue you care about the most (not everyone gave just one).
Forhan: “I'm focused on specific priorities, priorities like reproductive freedom, making it so that women can control their own bodies in our state, enacting common sense gun control, raising the minimum wage and ending gerrymandering. Beating Trump again this year is a very high priority for me.”
He also mentioned advocating for LGBTQ+ and trans rights — and human rights in general.
Synenberg: "Our legislature has gone too far to the right. First, we need the help of all the voters to get redistricting reform passed this November. And I don't think the Republicans realize that on the social issues that they're trying to pass, whether it's anti-abortion or anti-transgender rights, anti-LGBTQ rights, that has an economic impact on the state. I want to be part of this change in Columbus to bring us back to the middle."
He also mentioned mental health support, which can help reduce incarceration and gun safety regulations. He made sure to point out that he isn’t talking about taking away all guns – just putting forward red flags and safe storage laws.
Washington: "We all know food is most important, but sometimes when you have to make that decision, whether you can eat or whether you can pay a bill, that becomes really difficult. But then we have areas where there are food deserts — and so there are people that are suffering from food insecurities for that reason. This is a time for us to reclaim our community and try to fight to get resources."
She is also passionate about addressing maternal and infant mortality, mental health support, keeping home rule, protecting the local government fund and putting forward gun safety regulations.
What committees would you want to be on?
Forhan: "I would like to serve on the State and Local Government, Commerce and Labor, Financial Institutions and Government Oversight Committees…. My experience working as a lawyer definitely [impacts] the work that I do."
Synenberg: "I would like to be on both or either the Criminal and Civil Justice Committees. I want to be the eyes and the ears of the legal community in Northeast Ohio, to be the person there that can make those changes or amendments or bring up new laws that the legal community and the judicial community think are worth having."
Washington: "I have 30 years of health care experience. I think that it would be best suited for me to be on the Health Committee because I could add a lot of experience in that area. I do medical billing and coding for providers across the country, as well as some practice management and some revenue optimizations.”
What is your biggest achievement?
Forhan: “I was serving at the time as a member of the Ohio Ballot Board and got into, sort of, a fight — just with words. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, whose office proposed this misleading ballot language... I got national attention on that issue. Hopefully that played some small role in helping to propel Issue 1 to passage in November."
Synenberg: “I started a program where we went into the third grade at Beachwood schools to talk. [And we said], we should let the students, if they come up with an idea that we deem worthy, to make a new law. One of the students came up with an idea about safety seatbelts on school buses. We did research and realized it's not state law in Ohio to have seat belts on school buses. And we actually became the first, at that time, city to fully fund seatbelts on our city school buses. It was a $250,000 amount, we fully funded it."
Washington: "I would say my number one biggest achievement is myself and I say that because I grew up in the inner city, I was living in near poverty growing up. There were a lot of challenges as far as me being able to leave that neighborhood and go off to school. I would say the biggest achievement is being able to break that ceiling and be able to do something that people really didn't see a lot of when I was growing up."
Quick-fire round on hot topic issues.
All candidates support access to abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, gun safety regulations, redistricting reform, helping provide affordable housing and unions.
The answers about the private school voucher system differed.
Forhan is completely against them, citing how it takes public money and gives it to wealthy people to reduce the cost of private schools for them. Synenberg says there is a place for them for families who actually need them, but the system allows for wealthy families to take advantage of them and more needs to be done on the process. Washington is mixed, because a voucher would help a lot of poor families, but she also sees that it takes money from public school – so she thinks there needs to be a better system.
Their beliefs on the income tax also differ.
Forhan is against repealing income tax. Synenberg is against it as well, however, he does have some proposals for income tax relief for poor Ohioans. Washington said she does support the repeal.
Your community is diverse, do you believe you can represent them — and how?
Forhan would bring his neurodivergency and LGBTQ+ family. He is seeking help with a possible diagnosis of autism and wants to reduce the stigma around mental health issues in general. He also grew up with two moms, advocating for rights for marginalized communities. He also feels connected to the people of color in his community.
Forhan: “I value diversity at all levels, including in public service and leadership. Black voices in particular have been ignored or minimized for centuries. I want to elevate Black voices in my work at the Statehouse.”
Synenberg would bring his Judaism. Beachwood, his city, is 90% Jewish, according to the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. As of 2023, the vast majority of Jewish people live in the East side suburbs, including Beachwood, South Euclid, University Heights and Lyndhurst, the Cleveland Jewish News found. There are currently three Jewish lawmakers at the Statehouse – none from Cuyahoga County.
Synenberg: “We should absolutely have a representative or senator who is Jewish — who understands our people, our history, understands the rise of anti-semitism, what is going on locally and globally in terms of antisemitism and hate. I think we should have a Jew in East side of Cuyahoga County, given our Jewish population."
Washington, a woman of color, says she would be best able to represent Collinwood better than anyone else. Collinwood–Nottingham is 85% Black, and North Shore Collinwood is 63%. She also grew up in near poverty.
Washington: “No one can fight for maternal health better than I can, no one can fight for a woman's autonomy of their body better than I can. I've experienced a lot of things that are going on in this district as far as living in poverty, living in unaffordable housing, being a woman, being a woman of color.”
Controversy at the Statehouse
This is where the questions differ. Forhan and Synenberg have been in an explosive fight, sending out mailers and memos about the alleged wrongdoings of their opponent. Some include News 5 stories of the situation with Forhan, while others criticize Synenberg for being a "Republican."
Forhan: "There is a smear campaign based on lies that I've been the subject of, conducted by the person who leads the caucus to which I belong. The result of her efforts against me have manifested themselves in this campaign very directly."
In November, House leadership stripped Forhan of nearly all his privileges due to allegations of “abusive” and “violent” behavior — and the "pattern of harassment, hostility, and intimidation of colleagues and staff."
The decision to remove his duties was detailed in a 19-page dossier sent to House Democratic Leadership by Minority Leader Allison Russo, which was then obtained by News 5. In this report, it was decided that Forhan can no longer have an office, a legislative aide or utilize any services that state representatives can access.
He denied it all.
Following the release of the report, state Rep. Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) filed a police report and got a restraining order against Forhan for allegedly coming to her home on numerous occasions. Forhan has repeatedly denied this.
RELATED: Stalking charges not being filed against Rep. Elliot Forhan due to lack of evidence
House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) provided the following comment to News 5 after hearing Forhan slam her back in December: "There is a restraining order that prevents Rep. Forhan from legally being in proximity to another member of the Democratic Caucus. We continue to make accommodations for him to participate in Democratic Caucus business. Rep. Forhan is certainly able to give his version of how he perceives his behavior and its impact on others."
Now — charges will not be filed against Forhan for allegedly stalking her after the police asked but did not receive evidence of the crime, according to the city of Cleveland.
News 5 has been reporting on Forhan's situation from the beginning. Click here to read more in-depth about the allegations, how they started and the timeline of events.
Addressing allegations of being a Republican
Synenberg was the Deputy General Counsel for the Ohio Treasurer of State from 2011 through 2017. He served under now-far-right Josh Mandel.
Synenberg: "I'm not some Republican operative. I did work for a Republican in order to get public service experience, but I'm a Democrat. If you wanted to work in Columbus for the state government over the last 15 years, you work for a Republican. It was an opportunity to work in state government and to give back and to learn how government actually works on a day-to-day basis."
Getting into the race
Both Synenberg and Washington cited Forhan’s conduct the past year as a major reason for running.
Synenberg: "His behavior in Columbus and towards his colleagues and towards others he's interacted with is not the kind of behavior that we deserve and expect from our representatives. If Mr. Forhan was doing a satisfactory job, no, I would not have run."
Washington: "We had not really had any real representation in this last year. When I looked into the district and I saw some of the issues and the needs that affected the district, I knew firsthand that I could relate to those issues and that I could be a good representative."
What is next?
The winner will face off against write-in Republican Joshua Malovasic.
Click or tap here for your Northeast Ohio election guide.
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