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With Cordray confirmed, Ohio Dems stuck with Fitzgerald

Nina-eyes-Eds-spotYesterday, the long battle over Barack Obama’s nomination of former Ohio AG Richard Cordray in the U.S. Senate came to an end. He will officially take the job leading the new federal financial oversight department.

That windy sound you heard yesterday wasn’t the cool summer breeze we need in this week of 90 degree temperatures. It was Ed FitsGereld breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Cordray was known to have been interested in running for governor, and was biding his time while his nomination remained in limbo. He obviously won’t be seeking the nomination now, so the nomination is all but locked up for Fitzgerald.

Because of the nature of his nomination that required Cordray to remain apolitical, he could not answer questions about his interest in the governorship. Cordray had a lot of Ohio Dems waiting to make their choice until the nomination issue was resolved.

Obviously, Fitzgerald was many Dems’ last choice, because he was the only one to run.

When it became obvious that Fitzgerald was the only guy, hundreds of Ohio Democrats started a campaign to draft Cordray into the race. It currently has over 400 supporters on Facebook, including Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill.

Adding to the intrigue is an apparent blessing from Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill, one of only two Democrats who holds an elective statewide office. O’Neill “liked” the Facebook page’s inaugural post, which read in part: “We need Cordray to run in 2014!” O’Neill also added a lengthy comment under the post.

The campaign has been featured on Daily Kos, as well.

Cordray has also consistently polled better against Governor Kasich than Fitzgerald, (though Kasich currently leads both men by double-digit margins.) In the same poll, both Democrats and Ohio voters in general have more favorable views of Cordray and more believe that Cordray has the necessary experience to be governor, rather than Fitzgerald.

There are also reports that Cordray’s allies met with other Democrats on the 2014 ticket about getting their support for Cordray over Fitzgerald.

According to a source with knowledge of the meetings, Cordray’s people have met with members of the ticket to discuss his possible candidacy. He wanted to know if they’d support him over Fitzgerald. The source told Cleveland Challenger that Cordray’s supporters were encouraged by the discussions.

“They were told that there is some discomfort with Ed Fitzgerald,” the source told Cleveland Challenger.

But all of that speculation is over now.

Congratulations, Ohio Democrats. You’re stuck with your last choice of a challenger for John Kasich.

You’re stuck with Ed Fitzgerald.



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Third Base Politics is an Ohio-centric conservative blog that has been featured at Hot Air, National Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and others.

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