TREASURER

Democrat Rob Richardson and Republican Robert Sprague have been campaigning across Ohio talking about their experience and trying to raise their name recognition. Both are making their first run for statewide office, hoping to succeed term-limited, GOP incumbent Josh Mandel. They offer voters very different views of the job.

Sprague, a state representative from Findlay, said it’s pretty simple. “You invest, you protect and you issue debt,” he said. “You have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Ohio.”

Richardson, a securities litigation lawyer from Cincinnati, promises to expand the traditional role of treasurer, using the office to promote civil rights and “hold the powerful more accountable,” such as drug companies that many believe have made money while fueling Ohio’s opioid crisis.

He would use the position to pressure public pension funds to divest from forprofit prisons, which he said make more money the more people are incarcerated, and to oppose state spending on for-profit charter schools such as the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, accused of swindling millions in tax dollars.

Sprague disagrees with Richardson’s plan to pressure state pensions to divest certain investments because that could negatively impact earnings.

“I would not do that as treasurer,” Sprague said. “I do not view that as my role.

“They have been set up as a Richardson Sprague

separate trust for a reason, and the reason is to make sure those pensions are protected and are insulated from political influence. They are not there for me to score political points; they are there for pensioners.”

Sprague said his opponent doesn’t understand the difference between the legislative role to make policy and the treasurer’s fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers.

But Richardson said he can do both.

“My vision is based on my experience,” said Richardson, 39, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati with degrees in electrical engineering and law and later served on the university’s Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2016, including one year as chairman. In 2017, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Cincinnati.

On the board, “we were able to show you could be both fiscally responsible and have a vision that helps people,” he said.

The board oversaw a $1.2 billion annual budget, and during his tenure turned a $20 million deficit in cash reserves to about $300 million by implementing performancebased budgeting, which required each department to have a spending plan with identified resources.

As treasurer, Richardson said he’d create incentives for private businesses to invest in high-speed broadband and other infrastructure needs, and expand low-interest student loans for college and work training. He’d also push for more transparency in state pension fund investments and payments to investment managers and attorneys.

Sprague “wants to continue to not challenge the status quo, to keep doing things the way business has been done, and I don’t think that has served Ohio well,” Richardson said.

Sprague, 45, has served in the Ohio General Assembly since 2011. He sees the treasurer’s duties in line with his pre-legislative experience in the public and private sectors. He earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and a master’s in business administration from the University of North Carolina, working as a financial-management consultant before opening his own investment firm in Atlanta.

He eventually returned to his hometown of Findlay, in northwest Ohio, where he served as city treasurer and auditor before being elected to the General Assembly. There, he focused on the opioid crisis, leading efforts to halt pill mills, increase access to naloxone, expand treatment and educate students and parents about the dangers of drug use.

He’d like to continue those efforts as treasurer by creating government-backed “social impact bonds” to spur private investment in drug treatment. Investors would be reimbursed for their initial cost if treatment proved effective.

“I have an interest in finance. My background is in finance, and I will put my talents and experience to work for the taxpayers of the state,” he said. “They can expect their tax dollars will be safe and wisely invested.”