Hamilton County Democrats will get a look at their only active candidate for Ohio governor on April 11, when Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald is the featured speaker at a county party fundraising reception.
FitzGerald, the 44-year-old former mayor of the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood, announced last week he was forming an exploratory committee for a run for Ohio governor in 2014, when the Republican incumbent, John Kasich is up for re-election.
FitzGerald will be the featured speaker at the Hamilton County Democratic Party's annual Century Club reception at Longworth Hall.
He was elected Cuyahoga County executive after voters in that county voted to replace the county commission form of government with a charter government, headed by an elected chief executive. The change came after a major bribery and corruption scandal in county government that resulted in dozens of indictments of local officials and others, including then-county commissioner Jimmy Dimora, who is serving a 28-year prison sentence.
FitzGerald, a former FBI agent, is the only potential Democratic gubernatorial candidate to have gone so far as to form an exploratory committee.
Tickets for the event are $150 per person or $1,500 for a sponsorship. More information on the reception can be found at the county party's website.
