Ohio Democrat Who Switched Sides to Support Trump Loses Mayoral Election

Ohio Democrat Tom Coyne served as mayor of Brook Park for more than two decades, winning re-election 2013. But in 2016 he did something that outraged his supporters and colleagues: he left his party and endorsed Donald Trump for president of the United States.

Coyne justified this decision by comparing Trump to Ronald Reagan, which we suppose is fitting since those two men are both people who should never have rightfully become politicians. The former Brook Park mayor doubled down on his choice for president, as Raw Story reports. He has even appeared at fundraisers with Trump’s son Donald Jr.

Running for re-election this year, Coyne likely felt fairly confident about his chances, given his long record with the community. But Brook Park voters seem to have taken none too kindly to Coyne’s decision to support a bigot and sexual predator: Coyne lost the mayoral election in Brook Park yesterday.

A United Auto Workers representative named Michael Gammella defeated the former mayor by over five percentage points in the election, signaling the community’s loss of faith in Coyne. Coyne seemed to think that by supporting Trump, he was supporting his blue-collar, white voter base (hence the comparison to Reagan). Perhaps he should have considered that his voter base was not as supportive of racism and sexism as he was.