Rich Cordray Leaving The CFPB Isn't Good-- But I Hope He'll Make A Good Ohio Governor

Governor John Kasich (R-OH) is term-limited and cannot seek re-election. Former Senator and current Attorney General Mike DeWine, current Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, current Lt. Governor Mary Taylor and multimillionaire backbencher Rep. Jim Renacci are all competing in a fiery Republican primary. Kasich is backing his Lt. Governor but virtually every poll shows her in third place behind DeWine and Husted. (Renacci is a non-factor, never even getting into double digits. The most recent poll (August) has DeWine at 36%m Husted at 20%, Taylor at 17% and Renacci at 8%.

The Democrats also have a crowded field-- State Supreme Court Judge Bill O'Neill, former state Rep. Connie Pillich, current state Senator Joe Schiavoni (once Senate Minority Leader), former Rep. Betty Sutton, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and, as of yesterday, CFPB Director (and former state Attorney General) Rich Cordray.

All the never-right professional prognosticators have announced the race "leans Republican." None of them seems to understand what a giant anti-Trump/anti-GOP wave means.

Yesterday Cordray sent his staff at the CFPB an e-mail telling them he's stepping down as director by the end of the month.

“As I have said many times, but feel just as much today as I ever have, it has been a joy of my life to have the opportunity to serve our country as the first director of the Consumer Bureau by working alongside all of you here,” he wrote.

Former U.S. Rep. Dennis Eckart, a Cleveland Democrat, said “several prominent Democrats have told me this morning they expect Cordray to run for governor.”

He added, “Cordray has a very compelling story and is motivated by convictions that will resonate well in Ohio and especially for those voters in Ohio who believe they have been left behind, ripped off, or ignored.”

...Ohio Republican Chairman Jane Timken came up with this withering put-down: “Ohio voters know a swamp creature when they see one, and just like Hillary, Crooked Cordray can’t be trusted.”

Cordray also was blasted by his Democratic rivals for governor.

“The CFPB has done good work to protect consumers, but by resigning Cordray is finally doing what Trump couldn’t-- undoing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” said Faith Oltman, a spokeswoman for Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley.

“It’s disheartening and disappointing that my friend, Richard Cordray, would abandon his role of protecting our nation’s consumers by turning over this critical agency to Donald Trump,” said Democratic candidate Connie Pillich.

...Joe Schiavoni, a Boardman state senator who also is seeking the Democratic nomination, said he’s not worried about Cordray’s prospective entry into the race.

“I think Cordray represents the same old recycled politician and if that’s what people are going to want, then they’ll have that opportunity,” he said. “But they’ll also have the opportunity to pick somebody that’s new, that has some new ideas and is just trying to represent the best interests of all Ohioans and trying to build a stronger Ohio.”

...[A]t a news conference on Capitol Hill, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who designed the bureau and recruited Cordray seven years ago to help set it up, vigorously defended Cordray, saying “he has stayed for seven years and devoted his life to making this agency work on behalf of the American people. I feel nothing but gratitude to Rich.”