Dann faces challenge of making good on promises

There is no question that Marc Dann won the tight race for Ohio attorney general over Betty Montgomery on the strength of his commitment to eradicate the pay-to-play culture that had taken hold in Republican politics.
But Dann promised much more during his campaign, and he is going to have to work hard to make good on those promises.
Dann spent more than 1 million to win, and the final campaign expense reports will show who provided the bulk of the money. It will be easy enough to monitor whether Dann makes good on his pledge that no one will buy access or favors from the new attorney general. And there's no doubt that the capital press corps will be watching Dann and all state officeholders for signs of favoritism. That's what happens after state government is wracked by scandal.
All Dann has to do to keep that campaign promise is set a tone for scrupulous behavior and make it clear to everyone working for him that he will not even tolerate the appearance of impropriety.
He'll have to work harder at keeping some of his other promises, and there is no reason to believe that he'll do anything but. If there is one thing that became obvious during Dann's statewide campaign it is that he is an indefatigable worker. Running in a state as large as Ohio with as many major population centers as the state has can be tiring. Running as a Democrat against the only Ohio Republican who was predicted to win throughout almost the entire campaign is exhausting.
Spreading the wealth
One of the promises Dann now has to deliver on is the redistribution of the wealth that state government tends to concentrate in Columbus. The money that runs state government comes from all corners of the state, and it is only fair that some of that money be returned to communities like Youngstown and Warren by state office holders.
The attorney general's office is the largest law firm in the state, but there is no reason for its 350 lawyers to all work out of Columbus, especially nowadays, when much of a lawyer's work can be done online.
Dann also promised to improve the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and to increase the amount of support that the attorney general's office gives to local police departments.
And he said he would take a new, more aggressive stance in holding every entity of state government to account, demanding that they act within the confines of the Constitution. That would seem to be a given, but the issue of school funding in the state raises the possibility of a fascinating battle between the Legislature and the attorney general.
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled three times that the method of funding education in the state is unconstitutional, yet the backbone of school funding remains the property tax. An attorney general who pushed that issue could be the catalyst for real change.