Three Candidates Seeking To Become Ohio’s Next Attorney General Debate At DDN / WMUB Forum

I came away from the Dayton Daily News / WMUB candidate forum last night thinking that all the candidates, seeking to become Ohio’s Attorney General, in their own ways, are impressive individuals.  The three candidates are seeking election to finish Mark Dann’s term.

Attorney General candidates (L-R): Robert Owens, Michael Crites, Richard Cordray. Moderator, Gary Scott, News Director at NPR at eighty-eight-five, WMUB. In foreground, Bill Cohen, reporter for Ohio Public Radio

In his answers, Independent Robert Owens spoke articulately and with passion.  He accused both Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Michael Crites as being, “bought and paid for by private interests,” and he asserted that he would not take political money, that he would represent all of the people of Ohio.  Owens emphasized his political independence and he also emphasized his religious commitment, at one point saying that his style of leadership would be informed by Biblical teachings concerning “servant leadership. ”  And, at one point shared a story about his influence on a man named Tony that ended on this note: “Tony found the Lord.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer says: “Owens is an ardent supporter of limited-government groups such as the John Birch Society, Gun Owners of America and Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership. He is not Jewish. He proudly claims to be the only gun owner of the three candidates. if elected, he pledges end the no-bid contract process the office sometimes employs and to send all money collected by the office from successful litigation to the state treasury.”

Michael Crites seems an impressive person.  He spoke sensibly and with confidence.  Crites told of how Ronald Reagan telehoned him to appoint him US attorney and that he became responsible for 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties (from 1986 to 1992).  Crites emphasizes his legal experience, and his main strategy seems to be to try to tie Conray to the sins of Mark Dann.

I found The Plain Dealer’s assessment of Crites to be accurate: “Crites’ campaign strategy is simple: Talk up his credentials while belittling those of Cordray with savvy sound bites questioning his opponent’s motivations.”

I almost got the opportunity to ask a question of the three AG candidates, but time ran out.  My question: 
The gerrymandered structure of Ohio’s State Assembly districts and US congressional districts are overwhelmingly gerrymandered, and this gerrymandering is causing a great harm to our democracy.  In 2005, Ohio had a proposal on the ballot, Issue 4, that asked voters to approve a constitutional amendment to change the redistricting process, and this issue failed by a whopping 70% to 30%.  In your opinion, should Ohio try again to change the redistricting process via constitutional amendment? And, if yes, what are some details of an amendment you would recommend?

I’m thinking I will e-mail the question to each candidate and see if they respond.

After the meeting I had the chance to talk a short time with Bill Cohen, the reporter for Statehouse News for Public Radio.  I always enjoy listening to Cohen on the radio and feel that he shows a great amount of knowledge and in-depth insight about every aspect of state government.  I asked Cohen if he had ever considered writing a column about Ohio politics and having it syndicated in newspapers around the state.  He said that he is kept busy doing his present job and wouldn’t think he could find the extra time that such a project would require.  You can hear his reports at the Statehouse News Bureau web-site.

I did some You-tube research and found several videos about the attorney general race.  This ad summarizes much of Crites’ strategy in trying to win this election:

In this ad, a take-off on the PC / Mac commercials, Crites tries to tie Cordray to the Mark Dann, and asks, “Matt: But didn’t Cordray endorse Dann, support him and ignore 16 months of Dann scandal? … If you like Marc Dann you’ll love Richard Cordray.”

The Plain Dealer says, “While Cordray did back Dann for election, he quickly joined other Democrats led by Gov. Ted Strickland in May in demanding that Dann resign in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal in his office. And to this point, no hint of corruption or scandal has been linked to Cordray, as the ad implies.

Here is a more recent Crites’ ad:

Cordray’s comments emphasized a lot of points he makes in this commercial (below), his experience as State Solicitor, the fact that he has argued six cases before the Supreme Court, the fact that he has the endorsement of law enforcement groups.

Here is a longer video from Cordray, a seven minute biography narrated by his wife, Peggy.

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