During a conference call with reporters yesterday, Democratic former Ohio Attorney General Rich Cordray declined to say if he will run for governor next year. But Democratic Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill says he will not run because Cordray will. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.
O’Neill said he was interested but wouldn’t be making a decision on the governor’s race till January – since he’d have to leave the bench to run. But he now says he’ll be staying where he is.
“I was contacted by a mutual friend with Richard Cordray last week and they wanted to be very clear on whether or not my original commitment was still valid. And that was that if Richard Cordray is in the race for governor I am out of the race for governor. And that is still the case.”
The former Ohio attorney general now heads the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Though Cordray hasn’t confirmed anything, it’s widely suspected that he will announce around Labor Day that he’ll join the four Democrats already seeking the party’s nomination for governor.
