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2 fight for attorney-general post
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Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray
By DAVID SKOLNICK
YOUNGSTOWN
Attorney General Richard Cordray said he’s brought stability to the office, and his accomplishments as the state’s top lawyer merit his re-election.
But ex-U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, Cordray’s Republican opponent, disagrees and said, “I know I can do a better job.”
Cordray, a Democrat, and DeWine met separately Tuesday with The Vindicator’s editorial board.
During his discussion, DeWine largely focused on the state’s crime lab, criticizing it for taking too long to process evidence, including DNA, for criminal cases.
DeWine provided statistics that show the lab, which is under the jurisdiction of the attorney general, has averaged 88 days to process DNA during Cordray’s administration, which began January 2009. In comparison with five other crime labs, only Hamilton County’s lab takes longer to process DNA, DeWine said.
“Richard Cordray didn’t create the problem, but he hasn’t taken the steps to fix the problems,” DeWine said.
Not so, Cordray said.
The attorney general said the lab has been slow in processing evidence for decades, but during his administration, it has made significant improvements. Processing DNA was taking about 100 days when he first took office and it’s now averaging 71 days, Cordray said.
It’s not fair to compare other crime labs in Ohio with the state’s crime lab because the latter processes significantly more cases than other labs in Ohio and does it for free, Cordray said.
Cases that take at least 45 days are considered to be backlogged. The backlog for DNA cases has declined 61 percent since he took office, Cordray said. The backlog for processing drugs and other chemicals is down 64 percent, and for forensic biology, such as testing blood type and fibers, it’s down 70 percent, he said.
“We are doing an excellent job,” Cordray said.
Cordray called DeWine’s criticism “thin,” arguing that the crime lab is improving.
Also, Cordray said he has restored professionalism to the office, something lost during the administration of Marc Dann, a Democrat from Liberty, who resigned in May 2008. Dann resigned after an internal investigation showed the office was filled with cronyism and a lack of professionalism.
Cordray said he’s been directly involved in protecting the interests of the Mahoning Valley as attorney general, pointing to his involvement in the Forum Health sale, working to restore pensions to Delphi salaried retirees and aggressively prosecuting those who violate the law.
“I think we’re doing extremely well,” he said. “The last thing this office needs is another transition [to] another attorney general who, quite frankly, hasn’t dealt with legal issues for 30 years. [It would] just slow the office down.”
A former Greene County prosecutor, state senator, U.S. House member, lieutenant governor and U.S. senator, who now has a private law practice, DeWine said he is the best person for the job of attorney general.
“We can’t continue to run state government inefficiently,” DeWine said.