Mike Crites

COLUMBUS -- Attorney general candidate Richard Cordray (D-Pleasant Twp.) responded to his opponent's first television ad that debuted today.

Cordray, who is currently state Treasurer held a press conference at Ohio State University on Thursday to talk about his plans to change the way credit card companies advertise on college campuses. Cordray said the ad by former U.S. Attorney Mike Crites (R-Powell) ad fails to make a convincing connection between himself and former Democratic attorney general Marc Dann.

"It just seemed to me like many ads I've seen over the years trying to say that one person is like another person but offering no rationale or reason why that would be so," he said.

Former U.S. Attorney Mike Crites (R-Powell) is going negative in his first television ad, attacking attorney general opponent Richard Cordray as the successor to Marc Dann.

The Crites campaign will hold a conference call shortly to discuss the ad. It is not airing on television yet.

Cordray, a Democrat, is currently the state treasurer. 

UPDATE: Crites consultant Mark Weaver told reporters that the ad will begin airing in all media markets next week. However, the ad will not air simultaneously in all markets but rotate. 

Mike Crites: Politicker PhotoAttorney general candidate Mike Crites (R-Powell) accused state Treasurer Richard Cordray (D-Pleasant Twp.) of spending 20 percent of the treasurer's budget to promote himself.

Crites is facing Cordray for attorney general and said his opponent is spending $1.8 million between 31 employees that work in the office's departments of public affairs, community outreach and community education. Crites was asked if these employees are promoting the office or the treasurer himself.

"I'm saying they are out promoting the treasurer's office and in doing that they are out promoting Richard Cordray," Crites said.

Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray received the endorsement of Ohio's Fraternal Order of Police Friday.

PolitickerOH.com had previously reported on Cordray's efforts to secure the endorsement.

An announcement from the Cordray campaign refers to the organization's support as "critical to the credibility of candidates for Attorney General, the state's chief law enforcement official."

The FOP is Ohio's largest law enforcement organization with 26,300 members. The FOP stayed neutral during Cordray's last run for AG in 1998 against Republican Betty Montgomery.

Attorney general candidate and former U.S. Attorney, Mike Crites (R-Powell) will attend John McCain's 10,000-strong rally in Dayton this Friday, according to his campaign.

McCain and his vice presidential selection will appear at the rally, along with a largely unknown roster of Republicans. Former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman (R-Cincinnat) will attend and other "special guests."

After Dayton, McCain will hold rallies in Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Former U.S. Attorney Mike Crites (R-Powell) is making the case that a poll released yesterday shows him gaining on state Treasurer Richard Cordray (D-Pleasantville Twp.) in the race for attorney general.

Yesterday's Columbus Dispatch poll showed Cordray leading Crites by 10 points, 34 to 24 percent, with 42 percent undecided. In comparision, Cordray had a larger, 18-point lead over Crites in the last Quinnipiac poll.

Crites has been seen as the underdog because he entered the race five weeks after Cordray, which itself was weeks after the GOP first knew there'd be a race when Marc Dann resigned his attorney general position.

Crites said that Cordray's shrinking lead means he's competitive.

“We’re running against a career politician – someone who’s run eight times in the last 18 years – that’s why we continue to improve in the polls," he said in a statement.

A plurality of voters are undecided about who should be their next attorney general.

The Columbus Dispatch's poll shows 42 percent of likely voters are undecided about the race, while 37 percent support state Treasurer Richard Cordray (D-Pleasant Twp.), 24 percent support former U.S. Attorney Mike Crites (R-Powell) and 1 percent support attorney Robert Owens (I-Delaware).

Sixty-four percent are undecided about the race for Ohio Supreme Court for incumbent Maureen O'Connor's seat. Slightly fewer are undecided in the race between incumbent Peter Sikora and challenger Evelyn Statton (Straton leads by 4 points).

The sick day initiative has 60 percent support among voters.

Fewer voters support a casino between Columbus and Cincinnati along I-71, with 53 percent favorable to the idea. 

COLUMBUS - Former U.S. Attorney and current attorney general candidate Mike Crites (R-Powell) hasn't been elected yet but is already pushing to change the way things work in state government.

Yesterday Crites proposed the creation of the Ohio Public Corruption Commission that he said would allow public corruption cases to be investigated and prosecuted more quickly than they currently are.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett says he likes the new Quinnipiac University poll that puts GOP Attorney General candidate Mike Crites 18 percentage points behind Richard Cordray because the Democrat has run statewide before. Bennett cites one example worth noting: a September 1994 Gallup poll that showed incumbent Attorney General (now Lt. Governor) Lee Fisher leading challenger Betty Montgomery by 17 points. On Election Day, Montgomery won, 51%-49%.

Democrat Richard Cordray may have an 18-point lead in the race for Attorney General, but the poll is not entirely good news for him.  Cordray has already run statewide twice – a losing race for Attorney General in 1998 and a winning bid for State Treasurer in 2006 – but 74% of Ohio voters haven’t heard enough about him to decide if they like him or not.  Cordray is no more well-known than two other statewide elected officials: Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and State Auditor Mary Taylor.

His Republican opponent, Mike Crites, is unknown to 80% of Ohio – not much worse than Cordray.  Crites served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio (he prosecuted Reds Hall of Famer Pete Rose), but he hasn’t run for office since his election to the Olentangy School District Board of Education.