Governor: Clinton, Dann cases not similar management

By Marc Kovac

The state treasurer’s name has been kicked around to replace Dann.

COLUMBUS — As a congressman, now-Gov. Ted Strickland said he opposed the impeachment of President Clinton, after details of the former president’s extramarital activities.

He would support the impeachment of Attorney General Marc Dann, should his fellow Democratic officeholder refuse to resign, because the two situations “are dramatically different.”

“My reason for encouraging the attorney general to step down is not substantially related to his personal contact with someone that he has described as an individual he had a romantic relationships with,” Strickland said, referencing Dann’s admission last week of an affair with Jessica Utovich, his former chief scheduler.

The governor would not name his choices to succeed the attorney general if Dann should resign.

Democratic state Treasurer Richard Cordray is among the names that have circulated through the Statehouse rumor mill.

Strickland added that it was premature to compile replacement names at this time.

A replacement for Dann, should the Democratic officeholder resign in coming days, would be decided by voters in November.

House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican from Kettering, joined the state lawmakers publicly pushing for Dann to step down.

In a statement, Husted said he asked Rep. Bill Batchelder, a Republican from Medina, “to review the impeachment process as well as the standards and merits necessary to move forward.”

The speaker also said that any step toward impeachment “must be taken seriously. If, in fact, articles of impeachment are brought before this chamber, they will be considered and reviewed in a thorough, thoughtful and fair process. I am keenly aware of the gravity of this situation and the precedent any impeachment process might set.”

Rep. Stephen Dyer, an Akron-area Democrat, also called on Dann to step down.

“I am extremely disappointed in the actions of Mr. Dann,” he said in a statement.