After first hesitating to run due to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray's rumored bid, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill changed his mind and said that he’s leaning toward entering the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, according to an article in Cleveland.com by Jeremy Pelzer.
Back in July, O'Neill said a mutual friend told him that Cordray is going to run for Ohio governor. And as a result, O'Neill said that he would stick to his promise not to run.
Both O’Neill and Cordray have been considered top candidates for the position.
However, now that about three months have passed, O’Neill isn’t so confident that Cordray will run, putting his name back in the hat to run for Ohio governor.
From the article:
"I want to do it," the 70-year-old Chagrin Falls resident told cleveland.com in a telephone interview. The only thing stopping him from launching a campaign right now, he said, is the thought of the "immense personal sacrifice" he would make by having to step down from the court early to run.
O'Neill, who must retire from the court next year because of age limits, has said he wouldn't run for governor if Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, enters the race.
But he said Saturday that he has "grown impatient waiting for Richard.”
Cordray was rumored to announce a bid for Ohio governor after the bureau published its much-anticipated final payday lending rule.
But the bureau announced the rule at the beginning of October, and Cordray has yet to reveal he is running for Ohio governor.
Meanwhile, O’Neill’s previous claim that Cordray is running for governor back in July managed to stir up some trouble.
Shortly after O’Neill’s claims, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, called for an investigation of Cordray for allegedly violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees and cabinet members from using their official position to influence an election.
Hensarling questioned the call between Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill and a “mutual friend” who said that Cordray plans to run in Ohio and asked the state’s top elected Democrat to not stand in Cordray’s way.
