So I’ve been wasting no time getting ready for the 2018 midterms and the Governor races in New Jersey and Virginia taking place next year. We have to keep our numbers in the U.S. Senate and increase our numbers in the House but most importantly, win some big Governor races. With Trump in the White House and the GOP in full control, the midterm elections are usually a great opportunity for the party out of power to make substantial gains. Of course we have the Koch Brothers and gerrymandering and voter suppression to deal with and we’re still working on changing up leadership in the party (I’ll be writing about that soon). But still, it’s never too early to think about all of this and I am trying to avoid assuming that old trends will help us prevail. But one thing is for sure, outside groups are already scared about losing the upcoming Governor’s race in Ohio. How do I know this? Well, I set up Google Alerts and sign up for campaign website updates for Democratic candidates and incumbents to get an idea of what to expect. One of those potential candidate is Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Richard Cordray (D. OH).
Cordray has been encouraged by party heads to return to Ohio to run for Governor:
The latest sign came Friday with the launch of @RichCordrayOH on Twitter.
"Hello Ohio!" reads the social media account's first message.
Cordray himself must refrain from partisan politics because of his federal job running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But one Democratic source confirmed that the new Twitter account is the work of his supporters. And State Rep. David Leland of the Columbus area told cleveland.com Friday that he "would be happy to help" a Cordray campaign.
"I would strongly encourage Rich to run for governor of Ohio," said Leland, a former Ohio Democratic Party chairman. "I think far and away he would be the strongest candidate."
But Leland also said he is not involved with any early Cordray efforts, which also included loyalists promoting him over the summer as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton.
"I don't think there's anything official," Leland said.
The future of Cordray's consumer-finance watchdog agency and his role with it is unclear after last week's election of Republican Donald Trump as president. Cordray's term as director does not expire until mid-2018, by which time it would be too late to compete in that year's gubernatorial race. But Trump might have the discretion to remove Cordray, under a recent appeals court ruling that appeared to strike at the director's independent authority. Or Cordray could choose to resign early, worried that a GOP administration would cramp his style.
One thing is certain. If Cordray wants to run for governor, he needs to leave the agency soon to begin raising money and hiring a staff. Several other Democrats are eyeing the race, including Connie Pillich, a former state lawmaker from the Cincinnati area, and Boardman's Joe Schiavoni, the Democratic leader in the Ohio Senate. Other prospects include former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill, who said Friday that he wouldn't run if Cordray does.
So I am waiting to see how things shape up but I am already liking Cordray as a potential candidate given his track record. Current Ohio Attorney General and disgraced former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine (R. OH) So I was surprised to find this website called cordray2018.com. At first I thought it was a campaign website that had already launched but man was I surprised. Instead it’s a smear campaign:
Richard Cordray is the head of one of America’s most corrupt government agencies the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The CFPB is doesn’t answer to Congress and it has been plagued by SCANDAL during Richard Cordray’s reign.
In 2018, Richard Cordray is expected to run for Governor of Ohio, But before he leaves the CFPB he is trying to rush through new rules that will MASSIVELY benefit his trial lawyers friends.
You see, during Richard Cordray’s political careers he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from trial lawyers, and now he’s ABUSING his power to put even more money into their pockets.
The website is being funded by a group called Protect America's Consumers. I’ve never heard of this group before but thanks to the good people at Allied Progress, they help expose that Protect America’s Consumers is nothing but a right-wing front group:
Today, Allied Progress and American Family Voices launched a website highlighting the true motivations behind the shady front group called Protect America’s Consumers. The website, ProtectConsumersFromProtectConsumers.com, illustrates exactly how industry insiders twist reality in an effort to sneak their agenda past the American people and ultimately protect their own interests.
“Protect America’s Consumers is attempting to fool the American people by claiming that it wants to save the CFPB. In reality it wants to do the exact opposite and with this campaign, we are bringing attention to this sham,” said Lauren Windsor, the executive director of American Family Voices, a group that is actually dedicated to safeguarding the CFPB.
The website explains that Protect America’s Consumers is actually an “astroturf group,” or a group that bills itself as a grassroots organization but does not have any members. In reality, it’s funded by unknown sources and is aligned with shady Koch Brothers-connected characters all the way down the chain. The only person publicly affiliated with the group is its spokesperson Steve Gates, who has worked with organizations in the past that have been caught faking grassroots activity, even forging letters to Congress.
The new website out today, ProtectConsumersFromProtectConsumers.com, offers tips on how to identify “shady industry-backed groups” and guides readers on ways to avoid letting Protect America’s Consumers trick them. It walks visitors through the various shadowy tactics that Protect America’s Consumers has used, and gives them a chance to tell their senators that they support the CFPB.
The race for the next Governor for Ohio hasn’t even begun and already right-wing groups fear Cordray could win. This alone is already making me an early supporter of Cordray to get into this race. Stay tuned.