Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland unfroze the Democratic field for his old job Tuesday, opting against a 2014 rematch with Republican incumbent John Kasich.
The thaw might well end with Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald atop the party’s ticket.
Strickland, in a statement, said his decision was “very difficult” but offered no reason for taking a pass. The decision, first reported by The Plain Dealer, also ends months of speculation by removing the party’s obvious front-runner and leaving FitzGerald as the best positioned among a crop of top-tier prospects for the Democratic nomination.
FitzGerald said Tuesday that he has not made up his mind about running. The former Lakewood mayor, who represents the largest local constituency in the state, is largely unknown outside Greater Cleveland, and he has reached out to seasoned political operatives about helping him build a statewide campaign. He will address county Democratic chairmen during an event Wednesday night at party headquarters in Columbus.
“I don’t have a set date for a final decision,” FitzGerald said. “This kind of accelerates everything.”
FitzGerald’s four-year term as county executive expires in 2014, meaning he must choose between the near certainty of a second term and an underdog bid for governor that would require millions of dollars to run respectably, let alone win.
Most party sources agreed Tuesday that FitzGerald, 44, has the strongest claim to the nomination given his heavily Democratic base in Cuyahoga County and the preparations he already has made. But others could be drawn into the race now that Strickland is out of the picture. The possibilities include former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of the Youngstown area and Betty Sutton, the recently unseated congresswoman from Copley Township.
Cordray, 53, heads President Barack Obama’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C. — a position that prevents him from engaging in politics. He reiterated that restriction when reached Tuesday. Cordray would have to leave the job before returning home to launch a gubernatorial bid, and he declined to speculate about such a move.
Ryan, 39, is close with Strickland and had said his candidacy for the job was conditional on Strickland not running. He released a statement Tuesday saying he would make up his mind in “the near future.” But previously Ryan had hinted that a reappointment to the House Appropriations Committee would make him less likely to run. He has been reappointed.
Sutton, 49, lost her seat to Republican Rep. Jim Renacci in a battle made possible by congressional redistricting. Her name also has been floated for down-ticket offices on the 2014 state ballot. She did not respond to requests for comment.
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