Former watchdog runs for governor

GROVE CITY, OHIO — Former consumer watchdog Richard Cordray said Tuesday that he will focus his campaign for governor on improving the lives of Ohio’s families and maintain a tone unlike he encountered in Washington.

At a hometown diner, Lilly’s Kitchen Table, crowded with press and supporters, Cordray, 58, said he will focus on “kitchen table issues,” including the costs of health care and college, finding a better job and saving for retirement.

He also pledged to restore power to local governments after cuts from Ohio’s Republican-led Legislature.

“I will deliver results, and I’ll do it the Ohio way — the way I’ve always done things,” he said. “Not by stirring conflict, sowing division or pitting people against one another. We’re seeing way too much of that from Washington, D.C.”

Many view Cordray as the strongest contender among the six Democrats to seize a critical swing state from Republicans next year. GOP Gov. John Kasich is term-limited and unable to seek re-election.

Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine’s rival campaign recently announced Secretary of State Jon Husted as a running mate.

Cordray resigned last month as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a key Obama-era holdout under Republican President Donald Trump. Republicans accused him of exploiting his federal office to position for an upcoming political run and with heading an agency whose structure and mission many oppose.