Richard Cordray (D)
Mike Crites (R)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline)-Ohio Democratic attorney general nominee Richard Cordray has a huge cash advantage over his Republican opponent going into the November election, campaign finance reports show.
Cordray, who is the state treasurer, has $ 2.47 million in the bank, compared to the $80,282 GOP candidate Mike Crites has on-hand, according to reports filed with the Ohio secretary of state.
The two candidates are vying to complete the two years remaining on former Attorney General Marc Dann's term. Dann, a Democrat, resigned in May amid a sexual harassment scandal.
Campaign finance reports show that Cordray raised more than $600,000 in September, which includes more than $360,000 he received from the Ohio Democratic Party in the form of ad buys and money for campaign staff.
Meanwhile, Crites, a former U.S. attorney, raised nearly $39,000, which includes the $1,000 checks he received from former Attorneys General Betty Montgomery and Jim Petro.
A SurveyUSA poll released Wednesday shows that Cordray leads Crites 42 percent to 34 percent.
The poll also shows that Independent candidate Robert Owens, an attorney, has 12 percent support. Twelve percent of voters are undecided, the poll indicates.
The poll of 693 likely voters, conducted Sunday and Monday, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
From Legal Newsline: Reach reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.