2018         General Election       Lost 51 — 46

Choir Boy

One analyst described him as a choir boyAn agreeable rule follower.  Richard Cordray https://cordrayforohio.com/ is the very bright son of parents who devoted their lives to working with children and adults with disabilities. 

High School Quiz Show champion Jeopardy Champion.  Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude graduate from Michigan State.  A Marshall Scholar. Editor in Chief of the University of Chicago Law Review.  Clerked for Judge Robert Bork (Do you remember  him?)  Clerked for Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.  (That this was conservative preparation nearly goes without saying.)  Taught at The Ohio State University Law School and at Georgetown.  Richard Cordraywas a winner before he started a career.

Richard Cordray https://cordrayforohio.com/ chose politics as his career.  Academic success was the easy part.  In politics, he won some and lost some.  He had genuine political accomplishments.  Will those accomplishments get him elected governor?

  • 1990 He beat a six term incumbent for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives
  • 1992  He was redistricted out of his seat
  • 1992  He came in second in a three person race for a seat in the US Congress
  • 1993  Appointed Ohio’s first solicitor general
  • Won a case before the US Supreme Court allowing journalists to ride along with police
  • Lost case attempting to prevent the KKK from displaying their cross
  • 1996  Lost race for Ohio Attorney General
  • 2000  Lost in primary for US Senate seat
  • 2002  Elected and then reelected Franklin County (Columbus) Treasurer
  • 2008  Elected Ohio State Treasurer
  • 2008  Elected Ohio Attorney General
  • Gained lead status for Ohio in a suit against Bank of America for allowing bonus giveaways as part of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch
  • Achieved a Billion dollar settlement with American International Group for bid rigging business practices prior to the financial collapse
  • 2010  Lost reelection for Ohio Attorney General
  • 2010  Selected by Elizabeth Warren (Special Advisor to the President who had wanted the job herself) and appointed by President Obama to head the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  The Bureau, under Richard Cordray’s leadership:
  • Required return of over $11 billion to more than 27 million defrauded consumers
  • Example — Required Ocwen Financial Corp to return $125 million to foreclosed borrowers and to pay $2 billion payments to underwater borrowers as a result of fraudulent and misleading financial practices.
  • Example – Ordered three credit-card companies–American Express, Capital One and Discover–to return a combined $425 million to consumers, primarily for misleading sales tactic
  • Created regulations regarding interest rates and loan terms by payday lenders. 

Do Richard Cordray’s accomplishments win him election as governor of Ohio?  He has wrapped up the nomination.  Several candidates dropped out of the Democratic primary.  One of those candidates — Congresswoman Betty Sutton (who created the “Cash for Clunkers” program) became Richard Cordray’scandidate for Lt. Governor. 

With the possible exception of Elizabeth Warren, there is no one seeking public office with a better record on consumer protection.  Let’s protect Richard Cordray  https://cordrayforohio.com/.  Let’s protect his campaign.  Contribute some resources and elect him governor.  As Joe Biden would say, this is a big ……..deal.  Ohio governors are powerful.  They also have a voice in redistricting — affecting both the state legislature and the United States Congress.  If you are going to donate to only one candidate for governor, this is the one.