Stowsentry.com - Ohio Attorney General to seek re-election

by Marc Kovac

Capital Bureau Chief

Columbus -- Democratic state Attorney General Richard Cordray officially kicked off his campaign for re-election Feb. 16, saying he has cleaned up the scandal left by his predecessor and fought to protect Ohioans from financial scandals.

Cordray made the announcement before supporters at the Ohio Statehouse. He was elected to the statewide post in 2008 to complete the unfinished term of Marc Dann, promising at the time to run for re-election in 2010.

"This will be our third statewide campaign together in four years," Cordray said. "We know that whatever the political world throws at us, we can take it, and we can do well with it."

Cordray holds a master's degree from Oxford University in England and a law degree from the University of Chicago. He has been an attorney since the late 1980s and did stints as a state representative, the Franklin County treasurer and, under former attorney general and current Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the first state solicitor.

Cordray ran for attorney general in 1998, losing to Republican Betty Montgomery. He defeated Republican Sandra O'Brien in 2006 to become state treasurer. He left that post when he was elected attorney general in '08.

Cordray will have a challenger in the November general election.

Former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a Republican, announced his candidacy for attorney general in July.

In a statement Feb. 16, DeWine said Cordray hasn't "earned the trust of Ohioans."

He added, "As attorney general, he has continued many of the policies and practices of disgraced former Attorney General Marc Dann."

But Cordray countered that he has restored order and increased professionalism in both the state treasurer's office and the attorney general's office.

"My job was to clean up the taint left by the Dann administration scandals, and we have done that over this past year," he said.

Cordray added that he has fulfilled other promises he made to electors in 2008: "to support local law enforcement in fighting crime and defending our communities" and "to stand up for Ohioans and work everyday to protect the financial security of Ohio's families."

Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Statehouse Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog. His Capital Blog can be found online at blogs.dixcdn.com/capitalblog/.