He also appealed to fellow Democrats for support. In response, however, county chairman Tim Hagan stated, "There is no way in hell anyone can call Dennis Kucinich a Democrat." Others were more welcoming of support. "He's unbeatable!" Bob Weissman boasted of his boss. Kucinich also received endorsement by his former foe, Carl B. Stokes, the former mayor of Cleveland and the first African American mayor of a major city. "If Voinovich wins," Stokes said in a November 1979 edition of the "Cleveland Press", "the Democrats might as well forget about the state of Ohio in 1980."