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Former U.S. attorney for Ohio's Northern District considers run for AG
YOUNGSTOWN
Steven Dettelbach, the former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said he’s mulling a 2018 run for attorney general.
When asked Friday by The Vindicator about an AG bid, he said: “The straightforward answer to your question is it’s something I’m considering. I haven’t decided.”
Dettelbach was in Youngstown on Friday as part of a news conference calling on Senate Republicans to give a confirmation hearing to Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to a vacant seat on the Supreme Court.
Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras was quick to back Dettelbach if he runs in 2018 for what will be an open seat.
“He’d be an excellent candidate,” Betras said. “He was the chief law-enforcement officer for northern Ohio. There’s not a better candidate. He helped root out corruption in the [Mahoning] Valley. He helped get guns off the streets of Youngstown. He has my full support.”
Dettelbach was appointed U.S. attorney by Obama in July 2009 and confirmed by the Senate two months later. He resigned in February and is an attorney with the BakerHostetler law firm in Cleveland.
On the Republican side, Auditor Dave Yost, who considered running for attorney general in 2010, is expected to seek the position in 2018.
Also, Ohio Senate President Keith Faber reportedly is looking at either attorney general or auditor in 2018.
Dettelbach was in Youngstown for the second time in 15 days to criticize Senate Republicans for not considering Judge Garland for the court. Both of those events along with one in Toledo that included Dettelbach speaking on this issue were organized by the Ohio Democratic Party.
Dettelbach said he was not participating in the press conferences for political reasons, but to raise awareness of the importance of filling the vacant court seat.
Most Senate Republicans, including Rob Portman of the Cincinnati area, want to wait until after a new president is elected and allow that person to nominate a candidate to fill the seat empty since the Feb. 13 death of Justice Antonin Scalia.