Among the Democratic Party primary races Signal Cleveland is following is the one for Ohio House District 19, which has drawn three major candidates to the open seat. (Incumbent Phillip Robinson Jr., of Solon, is term-limited.) The district includes Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood and all or portions of a string of eastern and southeastern suburbs.
The Cuyahoga County Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate is Nicole Sigurdson, a Cleveland resident and union organizer with SEIU District 1199 who narrowly won enough support to secure the party’s influential backing.
But Sigurdson has been under fire from fellow party members and others for a comment she made on social media in 2025 about the Israel-Hamas war. Her comment – which she has since deleted – especially stood out because her district includes communities with sizable Jewish populations, including Solon and Pepper Pike.
In the post, Sigurdson shared an image of the Palestinian flag that read, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” It was a phrase used by protesters against the war. Prior, it was used for years by some advocating for the elimination of the state of Israel. And it’s been a slogan used by terrorist groups.
She posted a video earlier this year apologizing for the post.
“The post contained an image with an antisemitic slogan of which I failed to grasp the full significance of,” she said. “At the time, several people reached out to me expressing their hurt and sharing the full context of the phrase. After listening carefully to their concerns, I immediately deleted the post, but I should have known not to post it at all.”
Signal asked Sigurdson what motivated her original post. She said it was made in reaction to seeing a lot of coverage of Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza during the war. (The Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed 1,200 civilians and Hamas took 250 people hostage. Israeli’s military response left tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza dead.)
“I made them out of humanitarian concern, wanting autonomy for all people, wanting safety for all people,” Sigurdson said. “And part of what has driven me to politics is I never want to shy away from controversial topics.”
Fliers were recently mailed to residents in Solon attacking Sigurdson for her antisemitic comments. On flyer featured the headlines from a Cleveland Jewish News story about the comments. “Nicole Sigurdson is wrong for Ohio,” it read.
Sigurdson is campaigning around workers’ rights, including increasing the minimum wage, protecting the environment and the need to be more “caring about people.”
She faces two candidates in the primary: Dionne M. Gore of Solon, who works for Medical Mutual and is backed by Robinson; and Cheryl Perez, a small business owner from Brecksville, who was endorsed by Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer.
(There was only one Republican primary candidate, but he recently died unexpectedly.)
