With polls showing Washington D.C. Bureaucrat Richard Cordray tied with former Congressman Dennis Kucinich in the race for Ohio’s Democrat gubernatorial nomination, the two far-left candidates continue to escalate their rhetoric against one another. At a meeting with the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board yesterday, Kucinich and Cordray lobbed bitter attacks at each other in a sign that the “gloves have finally come off in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.”
The exchange was the latest indication of Prince Richard’s growing worries as Kucinich and his campaign gain momentum. The Plain Dealer reports that “Cordray was once seen as the odds-on favorite in the race” but his “grasp on the nomination seems to have slipped.” With barely a month to go until Democrats choose their nominee, Cordray and Kucinich’s escalating feud shows no signs of slowing down.
The kid gloves have finally come off in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.
It was evident during the Tuesday meeting of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates – ex-Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni and former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill – in front of the cleveland.com and Plain Dealer editorial board.
Cordray and Kucinich in particular have been jabbing at each other from afar during the campaign, releasing statements and opposition research critical of one another, but never fully coming to blows in a public setting. In the only debate thus far to feature the gubernatorial slate, they mostly avoided outright attacking each other.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday.
The attacks started early with some barbs traded back and forth. But the heated moment came more than an hour into the interviews, when Cordray emphasized his executive experience (about 1:09:00 into the Facebook Live video).
‘In my case, I’ve been an executive official now for the last 15 years,’ Cordray said. ’None of these others can say that. The only one who’s been an executive official is Dennis when he was mayor of Cleveland 40 years ago, and we know how that was.’
Cordray was referring to the tumultuous tenure of Kucinich, which famously saw the city go into default over Kucinich’s refusal to sell Muny Light.
Kucinich defended himself by saying he took a stand against to save Muny Light from being gobbled up by special interests…
Kucinich said Cordray’s decision to resign so he could run for governor handed the CFPB to the Republicans and President Donald Trump, who have sought to neuter the agency since taking it over. This move, Kucinich said, allowed payday lenders to get off the hook for bilking consumers out of millions of dollars.
‘I’ve been in the crucible,’ Kucinich said. ‘I don’t shy from the heat. But I also know that if we’re going to compare things, let’s make an honest comparison about what actually has happened…’
All told, the interaction was less than 10 minutes. But it was telling of where the Democratic primary has headed in recent weeks.
Cordray was once seen as the odds-on favorite in the race. But as gun regulations have become a major focus of Democratic politics since a high-profile February school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Cordray’s grasp on the nomination seems to have slipped.
He hasn’t been in line with much of the Democratic Party’s base on guns, and Kucinich seized on the opportunity, making it one of his key issues.
And if the polling numbers are accurate, it seems to be working. A recent poll from SurveyUSA showed Kucinich and Cordray tied in the Democratic primary, with a large portion of the electorate undecided.
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