Richard Cordray will leave his post as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to run for governor in Ohio, according to a published report, which cited an Ohio Supreme Court Judge as the source of the news.
The next election for governor of Ohio is in 2019. The current governor is is John Kasich, a Republican who is currently in his second term as governor and is term limited. Ted Strickland, who preceded Kasich, was the last Democratic governor of the state. Cordray was previously the attorney general of Ohio, prior to joining the CFPB.
Rumors have been swirling for months that Cordray was planning to leave his post to mount a gubernatorial campaign. Cordray’s term as director of the CFPB expires next year. When asked recently during Congressional testimony if he planned on serving out his term, Cordray was non-committal.
Many of Cordray’s critics have been expecting President Trump to fire the director in the six months that Trump has been in office. Cordray has been a lightning rod during his term, derided at every turn by Republicans but lauded by Democrats for the agency’s efforts to protect consumers. Republicans have felt that Cordray and the CFPB have strayed too far and placed overly burdensome regulations on the financial services industry. In fact, members of Congress are planning a resolution today that would seek to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn a recent rule banning class-action waivers in financial services products.
The judge quoted in the published report said an announcement was not “imminent,” but that preparations are under way. Nonetheless, “he’s getting ready to run,” the judge said.
