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Interim attorney general appointed
The appointee won’t run for the seat in the November election.
Gov. Ted Strickland’s appointment of Nancy Hardin Rogers as acting attorney general is a “great choice.”
That’s how former Attorney General Marc Dann, who resigned March 14, responded to a request by The Vindicator to comment on Rogers.
“She partnered with our consumer protection section to take on campus marketing of credit cards,” Dann wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. “I am confident she will continue the expanded efforts at protecting the environment and taking on predatory lenders begun in the past two years.”
Strickland, a Democrat formerly of Lisbon, appointed Rogers, dean of Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law since 2001, to the temporary job Wednesday. She was sworn in shortly after Strickland announced the appointment.
Strickland called Rogers “a woman of great integrity, accomplishment, intellect, humility, dignity, experience and maturity.”
Rogers isn’t interested in running for the seat in the Nov. 4 general election, however.
After the results of that election are certified, Rogers will return to her position at OSU, from where she is on a leave of absence.
In choosing Rogers, Strickland opted to select a caretaker to run the office rather than name someone who would be the Democratic incumbent in the general election.
“There will be an election this fall, and I felt that it was important that we not have the individual who was trying to deal with the immediate problems facing the attorney general’s office to immediately be engaged in a political campaign,” he said.
That move may make it more likely that Democrats will nominate Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray to serve as attorney general.
Cordray would have had to resign as treasurer if he had been selected by Strickland to the interim position.
That would have forced a Nov. 4 election to fill the treasurer’s position; something Ohio Democrats already had ruled out.
In a prepared statement, Cordray wrote that Rogers was an “inspired choice.”
Cordray taught at Moritz College and “can attest to her depth of knowledge and respect for the law. Her service will provide the stability and maturity needed to restore confidence in the office of attorney general.”
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern called Rogers “an eminently qualified leader,” and someone who “will be an exceptionally capable steward of the public trust.”
Ohio Republican leaders declined to comment on Roger’s appointment.
Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court commented on the political appointment, saying Rogers “is an excellent choice to serve as attorney general during his time of transition.”
A May 2 internal attorney general investigation criticized the office for cronyism and mismanagement and for creating a hostile work environment.
Dann announced his resignation only hours after investigators with the inspector general’s office and Ohio State Highway Patrol officials seized computers, BlackBerry electronic devices and documents from the attorney general’s office as part of an investigation.
Rogers said she expected to face “tough decisions” in the days ahead, but reiterated her confidence in the attorneys and staff of the office.
“It’s a shame that the actions of a limited number of persons who did not live up to these values have undermined the public confidence in this office,” Rogers said.
“It has led some to doubt that the attorney general still carries the moral authority that’s needed to serve the people of Ohio,” she said. “This situation must be turned around quickly.”
Tom Winters, first assistant attorney general, ran the office between Dann’s May 14 resignation and Rogers’ appointment.
Democrats and Republicans have until 4 p.m. Aug. 20 to select their attorney general candidates for the Nov. 4 election.
Also, those who want to run as write-in candidates have until 4 p.m. Sept. 3 to file with the secretary of state’s office.
skolnick@vindy.com
XMarc Kovac, Vindicator correspondent in Columbus, contributed to this report.