Dear Supporters:

Now that the Cleveland municipal election is over, we’d like to update you on the progress of our new political action committee, A Better Cleveland for All.

We started ABC4All to promote progressive values in Cleveland and progressive candidates for City Council. Overall, we think we punched above our weight this year. We showed how a small, volunteer group of Cleveland residents with a relatively small amount of resources can have an impact on Cleveland politics.

The candidates and fundraising

Our vetting process included in-depth interviews with 21 Council candidates. We ended up endorsing eight of these candidates for the primary election. We were pleased that seven of our endorsed candidates advanced to the general election:

Ayat Amin, Ward 3
Erick Walker, Ward 4
Stephanie Howse, Ward 7
Aisia Jones, Ward 8
Rebecca Maurer, Ward 12
Kate Warren, Ward 13
Jenny Spencer, Ward 15


In the end, Stephanie, Rebecca, and Jenny won their races. Several other candidates waged inspiring, uphill battles against strong incumbents. All were running for Council for the first time and gained valuable political experience for the future.

We raised almost $10,000 to support these candidates. We distributed the money as strategically as possible, focusing on candidates we thought needed financial support the most and providing early funding to help campaigns get off the ground. All of ABC4All funding was donated directly to candidates, except for several hundred dollars spent on bank fees and website expenses.

Other forms of candidate support

We also assisted candidates in a number of other important ways:

• Convened online community listening sessions to hear the issues important to city residents
• Organized issue briefings for candidates, including sessions on housing, economic development, and the labor movement.
• Connected candidates to ActBlue to accept online donations.
• Helped candidates obtain access to the Democratic Party’s VoteBuilder database, so they could better analyze voting patterns in their wards and plan canvassing routes.
• Developed the abettercle4all.com website to promote the candidates we supported.
• Generated media coverage for our candidates, including a front-page story in The Plain Dealer.
• Encouraged people in other organizations, such as the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, to canvass for our candidates.

What’s next

We learned a lot this year about how to promote new leaders and challenge entrenched political power in Cleveland. Now we are planning ways to continue the progress. The cultivation of progressive voices needs to be an ongoing process.

Early next year, we plan to convene a series of town hall meetings to continue raising progressive ideas and voices. We will support efforts to watchdog City Council and promote accountability and transparency. And we will continue fundraising, with a goal of amassing greater support for candidates in 2025.

We look forward to working with many partners in the coming years to transform Cleveland and make our city healthy, equitable and just.

Thanks for your support!

The ABC4All steering committee:
David Beach, Ward 4
Bishop Chui, Ward 9
Nora Kelley, Ward 17
Deb Kline, Ward 11
Patrick Murray, Ward 15
Rosemary Palmer, Ward 12