Dayton mayor adds name to list of Dem nominees for governor in 2018

YOUNGSTOWN

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley announced today that she will seek the Democratic nomination for governor next year.

“I’m running for governor because I believe Ohio’s best days are ahead of us,” she said. “We have to put Ohioans back to work by creating good-paying jobs people can raise a family on and hold the drug companies that caused the heroin crisis accountable. When you’re a mayor, you don’t have the luxury of looking the other way. You take the world as it is and have to deliver results for your community. That’s exactly what I’ve done as mayor of Dayton and what I’ll do as governor of Ohio.”

Whaley is the fourth Democrat to officially declare for the party’s 2018 nomination for governor.

The other Democratic candidates are state Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, former three-term U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, and ex-state Rep. Connie Pillich.

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and Secretary of State Jon Husted have announced their candidacies for governor. Also, Attorney General Mike DeWine will run for the position, but hasn’t made an official announcement yet.

“It’s clear that Ohioans are angry, convinced the system has failed them and rightly so,” Whaley said. “The people of Ohio have been deceived and misled for years. Republicans have run things in Columbus for 25 years, and they’ve run this state into the ground.”