Another source confirmed industry rumors that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray will run for Ohio governor despite the fact that he has not publicly announced the decision, yet.
According to an article from Cleveland.com by Jeremy Pelzer, “Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill said he was told by a mutual friend last week that Cordray is going to run for Ohio governor.”
So far, a lot of Washington, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and President Donald Trump, stated they are under the impression that Cordray will run for Ohio governor.
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O'Neill is now the latest to chime in on the rumor, adding that the friend, whom he declined to name, "openly stated" that Cordray is going to enter the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
From the article:
"The person I was talking to last week was saying that [Cordray] is basically trying to get as many projects done in Washington as he can before he leaves," said O'Neill, the lone Democrat on the state's high court. "But they left me with the clear impression that he is leaving."
The article added O'Neill will stick to his promise not to run for governor now that Cordray is entering the race.
While Cordray has not officially announced he is running for Ohio governor, O'Neill is the second person to make a decision based on the assurance that Cordray would run.
Back in April, Trump held off on firing the director because Trump’s top economic advisor, Gary Cohn, had dinner with Cordray and seemed convinced that he would leave of his own accord to run for Ohio governor.
But now in July, there is still no word from Cordray, making people in Washington D.C., like Hensarling, upset.
Going by what O'Neill said, Cordray is pumping out a lot of “projects” in Washington as of late.
So far this year the CFPB has proposed changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, banned mandatory arbitration clauses, finalized the updates to the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule and so much more.
To Hensarling, Cordray’s been too busy this year for someone predicted to not finish out their full term, which is slated to end July 2018.
“If Director Cordray wishes to issue midnight rules, to hire or adjust the status of CFPB employees, to obligate CFPB funds, or to accelerate agency investigations, he should first commit to serving his full term. If he will not do so, the honorable course of action would be to resign and leave such decisions to his successor,” said Hensarling.
Cordray still has some time to announce though, and if he does choose to run, he would be required to leave the bureau. Under Ohio law, Cordray can’t run for Ohio governor if he is currently engaged in politics.
Technically, the deadline for candidates to file their petitions for the 2018 Ohio Governor Primary is Feb. 7, 2018. However, a recent Bloomberg article explained that ideally Cordray would need to enter the race by the end of summer, well ahead of the Ohio filing deadline, but nearly a year before his CFPB appointment ends.
