LIMA — He is not unknown in Ohio politics, having served as Ohio Treasurer and Attorney General before joining President Barack Obama’s cabinet to serve as the head of the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the past five years. Now Richard Cordray has his sights set on the governor’s office.
Cordray brought his message to the Lima Building and Construction Trades Council holiday luncheon Friday at the City Club.
Despite a crowded field in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Cordray believes he has the right elements to set him apart.
“I’m running for governor because I think I have two things to offer,” he said. “I have the right vision, which means I am totally focused on the kitchen table issues that affect Ohioans and their families, the things that keep people up at night: how they pay the bills, how they make renovations. Second, I have a track record of delivering results on those issues as state treasurer, state attorney general and as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
Cordray outlined those “kitchen table issues” as concerns over how to afford health care, finding better employment, planning for retirement and being able to afford education and training.
“I want people to know that I care about the things that I believe they care about the most,” he said. “That’s been my focus, my passion and my intensity for the past 15 years, and it will be my intensity as governor.”
Along with his time as Treasurer and Attorney General, Cordray had previously served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, Ohio Solicitor General and Franklin County Treasurer. Last month, Cordray resigned his position with the consumer bureau with a year still left on his term to run for governor. During his tenure with that agency, he was often at odds with Republican lawmakers, facing calls for his termination, at times. Cordray also faced criticism for appointing his own successor to the bureau at the same time President Donald Trump named another person to serve as acting head of the agency.
“A criticism I’ve heard is that people think I worked too hard and was too aggressive in protecting consumers,” he said. “Who are consumers? That’s all of us. When people are mistreated, they need someone standing on their side. I make no apologies for that.”
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