Attorney General

A new ad by Republican attorney general candidate Mike Crites is explicitly saying Richard Cordray supported former attorney general Marc Dann.

The ad, which has aired at least once on Columbus television this week, has video of Cordray endorsing Dann in 2006.

"....Someone who with investigative power will make things right in this state and not allow things to go wrong as they have time and time again in Columbus, our candidate for attorney general, Marc Dann," Cordray said in the ad.

COLUMBUS – State Treasurer and attorney general candidate Richard Cordray (D-Pleasant Twp.) said yesterday that as attorney general he would work with the state’s universities to limit credit card companies marketing practices targeting adults going to college.

At a press conference at Ohio State University, Cordray said credit card companies are misleading in their sales pitches and that college students need protectino from getting in over their heads with credit cards.

“For many of them it imperils their ability to complete their college education because now they’re battling an accumulation of student loan debt and an accumulation of credit card debt,” he said.

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.

Both candidates running to be Ohio's next attorney general will debut television advertisements next week.

Today the campaign for former U.S. Attorney Mike Crites (R-Powell) unveiled its television ad attacking opponent Richard Cordray (D-Pleasant Twp). The ads said state Treasurer Cordray is a "professional politician" like former attorney general Marc Dann (D). Furthermore, the ad said Cordray "endorse, support...and ignore 16 months of Dann scandal."

Crites campaign consultant Mark Weaver said the ad will begin airing statewide next week, but the ad will play in different markets at different times.

Weaver defended the decision to go negative against Cordray even though polls show Crites is not well-known to voters. Weaver said the attorney general race is framed by Dann's scandals and Cordray's "support and advocacy" for Dann.

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 state Treasurer Richard Cordray (D-Pleasant Twp.) is capitalizing on his time at the Democratic National Convention to reach out to supporters through his website.

Taking a cue from more publicizied campaigns, Cordray is podcasting from the convention, and posting pictures of the event on his flickr page. 

On a related note, Cordray is soliciting questions from people on his website, which he says he'll answer.

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.

The campaigns for both attorney general candidates responded to PolitickerOH.com's earlier report of a new Quinnipiac poll showing state Treasurer Richard Cordray (D-Pleasant Twp) leading former U.S. attorney Mike Crites (R-Powell) by 18 points.

Cordray spokesperson Leesa Brown welcomed the poll results but was modest about Cordray’s performance.

“We think that these results are good news. It shows that people who know rich and know his record support him and those that are familiar with him like him and will vote for him for attorney general. But it also shows that we have a lot of work to do and we know that, which is why we have a coordinator in all 88 counties, we have a fully functioning campaign and everyone’s working hard,” she said.

Crites spokesperson Jen Detwiler said Cordray’s performance in the poll is lackluster and internal polls show the more voters know about the state treasurer, the less they like him.

"The fact that an established statewide career politician like Richard Cordray has less than 50 percent of the vote when career prosecutor Mike Crites just got into the race shows how vulnerable Cordray really is.  Our internal polling shows that the more people know about Cordray, the less they want to see him as Attorney General."