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VINDY EXCLUSIVE | Ex-Youngstown mayor considering 2018 Ohio gubernatorial run
VINDICATOR EXCLUSIVE
YOUNGSTOWN
With about a week left as the head of the U.S. Economic Development Administration, ex-Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams said he’s giving serious consideration to running for Ohio governor in 2018.
“People have frequently offered encouragement to me to consider running for governor,” he said. “It’s something I’ve given a lot of thought to. It will be a wide-open race. It’s a decision that needs to be made sooner rather than later. Organizing and raising the money needed for the race will be a daunting task for anyone.”
As for when he’ll make a decision, Williams, a Democrat who’s worked in the President Barack Obama administration since August 2011, expects that to happen in the next few months.
The former Youngstown mayor said he has three or four other job opportunities to consider. Williams also said he might do consulting work in the interim while planning his gubernatorial bid.
“I’m evaluating all opportunities to see where I can be the most impactful,” he said. “If I join an organization, I’d give myself fully to that organization and not run for governor. But it’s part of the decision I’ll be making over the next few weeks.”
Williams joins a growing list of potential 2018 Democratic candidates for governor including U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th; Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd; ex-state Rep. Connie Pillich, the 2014 unsuccessful state treasurer candidate; Ohio Supreme Court Justice William M. O’Neill; Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune; Richard Cordray, a former attorney general and treasurer who currently heads the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and ex-U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, head of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.
Williams welcomes a primary.
“As much of a disaster and fiasco the 2014 election was, we need a very robust slate of individuals who need to be vetted through, perhaps, a robust primary,” he said. “If Democrats want a strong general-election candidate that will happen as a result of a primary.”
Williams said he has no interest in running for any other elected offices.
Williams served as Youngstown mayor from January 2006 to August 2011. He then joined Obama’s administration as executive director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers. While keeping that position, he also served as deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs from June 2012 to May 2013.
He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 2014 to his current position as EDA administrator, also known as assistant secretary of commerce for economic development.
Williams sold his Youngstown house in 2013 and has been a resident of Silver Spring, Md., since then.
Being part of Obama’s administration “was a unique opportunity. It was a great experience in which there was economic development, record job growth, increases in wages. To see how much better off we are as a country and to be a small part of that is special. It has been a privilege and an honor. The bureaucracy can be mind-numbing and frustrating, but to know I was part of an administration and an agency that helped change people’s lives is a wonderful experience that I will carry with me for a lifetime. It’s been a great five and a half years. It’s bittersweet to leave, but I’m excited about the next chapter.”
With Republican Donald Trump being sworn in as president, Williams will be out of a job Jan. 20.
“I was very disappointed in the outcome of the election, but it wasn’t a complete and total shock,” said Williams, who campaigned for failed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “I had concerns as the election was drawing to a close. Maybe a President Trump administration will break up some of that dysfunction” in the federal government.
Williams said he has “concerns” with how Trump campaigned and some of his cabinet nominees.
“It’s incumbent on him to demonstrate he can do the job,” Williams said.
“Donald Trump ran on a populist message with a return to the glory days of steel mills. That’s not going to happen.”