DeWine, Cordray trade jabs in governor debate
Topics include drugs, jobs, opioid crisis, each other’s records, more.
The two men seekDAYTON — ing to become Ohio’s next governor engaged in a feisty debate Wednesday night, drawing contrasts between each other on key issues facing the state’s 11.7 million residents.
Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Mike DeWine debated for one hour at the University of Dayton, exchanging barbs — about each other’s records as state attorney general — and ideas — about drugs, the opioid crisis and state support for Ohio’s urban core.
Following a coin toss before the debate, Cordray took the first question: When you look in the mirror, why you?
Cordray, who was first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1990, said the governor’s office is another rung on the ladder for DeWine, who was first elected to the Ohio Senate in 1980.
“I am motivated to stand up to
people and fight back and make it right,” Cordray said, citing his time as state trea- surer, attorney general and director of the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. “I will make sure we get money back in your pock- ets and we have a brighter future in this state.”
DeWine rebutted, drawing a contrast on how the two candidates believe drug offenses should be prosecuted and sentenced.
“He is advocating — I want you to listen to this — some- thing in the state of Ohio that is totally outrageous,” DeW- ine said, criticizing Cordray for support of Issue 1, which would, among other things, convert felony 4 and felony 5 drug possession and drug use crimes to misdemeanors with no jail time for first and second offenses committed within a 24-month period.
“I cracked down on drug traffickers when I was attorney general . ... You have been in charge of this opioid crisis for the last eight years,” Cordray responded, arguing that taking advice from DeWine on the crisis would be akin to “taking directions from the captain of the Titanic.”
“Richard, you’re living in a fantasy world,” DeWine later said in the evening, later add- ing he was “a failure at every job you’ve ever had.”
DeWine accused Cordray of leaving a host of problems when DeWine was elected attorney general in 2010. Among other roles, DeWine has served as U.S. senator and lieutenant governor.
News Center 7 anchor James Brown moderated the debate. Candidates took questions from Dayton Daily News Columbus Bureau reporter Laura A. Bischoff, News Center 7 reporter and WHIO Reports host Jim Otte and UD assistant political science profes- sor Christopher Devine.
Cox Media Group Ohio, the publisher of the Dayton Daily News, served as media partner for the debate at UD’s Daniel J. Curran Place, the former NCR Corp. world headquarters.
Following the recent Frontline/ProPublica “Left Behind America” program, which has sparked heated conversation about the problems facing Dayton, the candidates were asked if the state government should do more to help urban areas rebuild.
DeWine said, “I will be a friend of local government,” citing his working relation- ship with area chambers of commerce and local governments, and he talked about protecting Wright-Patterson Air Force base jobs.
“We want to be prepared the next time there is a BRAC, the next time there is a realign- ment,” DeWine said. “Not only do we have an opportu- nity to not lose jobs, but we have a great opportunity to gain jobs as well.”
Cordray said the governor must do more to those who have not been part of the eco- nomic recovery.
“There’s some very good things happening in this com- munity and particularly at Wright-Patt,” he said, “but I’ve also been around the state, and many people feel left out and left behind.”
Cordray talked about working with small businesses, improving the state’s infrastructure and developing more clean energy. He said, “We need to create an economy that works not just for some of us, not just for those at the top, but for all of us.”
DeWine countered to Cordray: “You have a whole track record of failure. We are in the building where NCR was that left on your watch and Ted Strickland’s. General Motors left Dayton on your watch.”
Also on the statewide ballot for governor but not participating in the debate were Libertarian candidate Travis Irvine, a comedian and freelance journalist in the Columbus area; and Green Party candidate Constance Gadell-Newton, an attorney based in Columbus. The threshold for a candidate to participate in UD’s debate was at least 10 percent sup- port in statewide polls. Neither Irvine nor Newton has met that threshold.
A survey of likely voters conducted by Baldwin Wallace University between Sept. 5 and 15 shows DeWine with a slight lead over Cordray: 41.8 percent to 37 percent, but with 21.3 percent undecided. The poll was released Tuesday. Contact this reporter at 614224-1624 or email Laura. Bischoff@coxinc.com.