Michael O'Malley vs. David Brock
This is a short commentary on what’s been circulating lately. It’s not really a rumor anymore. It’s been reported by Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, and I’ve been getting texts from all over Cuyahoga County saying the same thing.
There’s a feud. David Brock, Chair of the Cuyahoga County Democrats, and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley.
Let’s start with the context.
Allegedly, this traces back to the 2023 prosecutor primary. Michael O’Malley did not secure the party endorsement. That forced him into a real race against Matthew Ahn, who brought a more progressive approach to prosecution and policing. Whether people agreed with Ahn or not, he forced a conversation.
Even I helped whip votes in my city to block the endorsement. Not because I was committed to Matthew Ahn, but for two reasons.
First, I do not believe in endorsements in primaries.
Second, endorsements shut down debate.
Once the endorsement failed, O’Malley had to campaign. He had to show up, answer questions, and explain himself. That is what a primary is supposed to do.
The Break from Tradition
To understand what’s happening now, you have to understand what used to exist.
In 2012, then-County Prosecutor Tim McGinty drew a clear line: “We’re stepping out of politics.” he said.
That meant prosecutors and their staff were not supposed to run for partisan positions. It was about restoring trust. About preventing exactly the kind of entanglement that had defined Cleveland politics before.
A Plain Dealer investigation found that “Nearly one of every five people” hired under former Prosecutor Bill Mason “either holds a public office or is related to or a friend of other politicians,” and that employees held “posts in 21 of the county’s 59 communities.”
That was the system and it was dismantled for a reason.
Read the Cleveland.com article here
https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2026/03/should-the-county-prosecutors-staff-be-running-for-partisan-positions-editorial-board-roundtable.html
The Reversal
Now that line is gone. Prosecutor Michael O’Malley has reversed that policy. His staff can now run for partisan office again. And according to reporting, “roughly 30” individuals, including O’Malley himself, are running for positions within the Democratic Party structure.
That is organization and people are noticing and the editorial staff of The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com are weighing in (if they should be is for another debate).
Leila Atassi, manager public interest and advocacy at The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com said:
“For O’Malley to suggest this burst of political involvement is simply civic engagement is convenient — but not credible. This looks far more like score-settling after the party’s 2024 non-endorsement of O’Malley, fueled by tensions between establishment Democrats and a rising progressive wing. Reopening the door to partisan politicking inside the prosecutor’s office risks turning prosecutions into political currency. In a county with a rich history of corruption, that’s not reform, it’s regression.”
Ted Diadiun, columnist and The Plain Dealer:
“It’s troubling that O’Malley told our reporter that all Americans need to get involved in political office … ‘whether they’re prosecutors, reporters, whatever.’ That proves he has no clue regarding the ethical boundaries that must exist, and the reputational damage that perceived partisan bias can do to institutions that the public relies on to be objective. The idea of reporters holding partisan positions is appalling and would destroy their employers’ credibility. The same holds true for prosecutors.”
Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director at The Plain Dealer & Cleveland.com:
“Prosecutor O’Malley should reconsider this ill-advised decision -- which does feel like an attempt at political empire-building rather than the civic engagement he claims it to be...”
Why This Matters Now
Cuyahoga County is not competitive at scale between Democrats and Republicans.
Let’s be honest about that. Republicans are largely irrelevant in most countywide races. The real power is inside the Democratic Party.
That means whoever controls the party controls:
Who runs
Who gets endorsed
Who gets funded
Who wins
And when endorsements happen, candidates don’t have to earn votes the same way. They don’t have to answer questions. They don’t have to debate.
And that’s what people are fighting over.
Control. Power.
The Power Struggle
So now you have two centers of gravity.
David Brock, who came in as a reformer, someone who was supposed to bring change, energy, and modernization to the party. Instead, what we’ve seen is preservation. Trying to keep everyone satisfied without fundamentally changing the system.
And then you have Michael O’Malley, who appears to be taking a more direct approach. More aggressive. Trying to build influence within the party apparatus itself.
Thomas Suddes, editorial writer at The Plain Dealer & Cleveland.com said:
“This is a terrible idea in a county (and region) that might as well have collectively ghost-written Donald Trump’s ‘The Art of the Deal.’ The very mention of ‘Cleveland politics’ prompts eye-rolling and shrugs downstate…”
That perception didn’t come from nowhere.
And it doesn’t go away on its own.
The Real Question
So ask yourself: Who do you want picking candidates?
David Brock?
Michael O’Malley?
Or the voters?
Because if this continues, it will be whichever faction wins this internal power struggle.
And once that happens, the outcome is predictable.
More endorsements.
More cleared fields.
More candidates stepping aside.
Fewer real primaries (if that is even possible).
What Needs to Happen
The solution is straightforward.
The central committee and executive committee need to pass bylaws prohibiting endorsements in primary elections.
Because if they don’t, this doesn’t stop.
It escalates.
And the result is not democracy.
It is consolidation.
And once consolidation happens, we are way past the time to protect democracy and make sure that the voters are picking candidates and running their government.