Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, viewed as a young rising political star by state Democrats, announced on Monday she is running for governor.
Whaley, 41, told cleveland.com her position as a mayor gives her a front-row seat to the problems the Ohio has faced under Gov. John Kasich and other Republicans who have generally run the state for the past 25 years.
“As a mayor, I just understand what’s going on on the ground in Ohio, when you look at how Ohio has been trailing the nation in job growth in the past 50 months,” Whaley. “I also understand the frustration that Ohioans have over not having their lives be better off than before when Republicans took control. I think we should have better days ahead in Ohio, and we need new leadership for that to happen.”
Whaley joins a crowded Democratic field that also includes former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of Copley Township, former Southwest Ohio State Rep. Connie Pillich and Youngstown-area State Sen. Joe Schiavoni.
Many Democratic activists have hoped U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Richard Cordray, the former state attorney general, will enter the race. But with his future with the agency tied up in court indefinitely, and the position’s ban on engaging in politics, that leaves the remaining lesser-known Democrats to duke it out in what early polls have suggested is a wide-open primary race.
The Republican gubernatorial field is similarly crowded, but the GOP’s candidates are more well-established — three of the four major candidates who are likely to appear on the ballot have won multiple statewide races. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, who previously represented the Dayton area as a state legislator, announced his own bid on Sunday. He joined Wadsworth U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci in the race, while Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and state Attorney General Mike DeWine also have said they will run.
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