COLUMBUS — Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, who has the support of current boss Gov. John Kasich, formed a committee today for her own run for governor in 2018.
The former Ohio auditor and state representative from Summit County filed the necessary paperwork with the secretary of state’s office for what could be a crowded Republican primary field.
Attorney General Mike DeWine is interested, and Secretary of State Jon Husted and northeast Ohio’s U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci are also considering the move.
“We turned Ohio in a new direction, and we’ve seen what’s possible in our communities when we rein in government, put people first, and ensure everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream,” Ms. Taylor said. “My priorities are jobs, strengthening families, fixing education, and cutting red tape so government is accountable.
“I want the job of serving Ohioans as our next governor, and this is an important step forward,” she said.
She has stepped down as honorary chairman of Onward Ohio, the federal nonprofit political action committee she helped organize that served a precursor to her official committee.
I care deeply about our state, our people and the future we can build by working together! pic.twitter.com/fTYEDqZVQ5
— Mary Taylor (@MaryTaylorOH) February 23, 2017
Mr. Kasich recently reconfirmed he will be in Ms. Taylor’s corner to succeed him if she runs, despite the fact she backed Jane Timken in her successful move to replace Kasich-based Matt Borges as Ohio Republican Party Chairman.
Ms. Taylor was the only Republican candidate elected to statewide executive office in 2006 during that year’s Democratic tidal wave. She was elected auditor, in part because she ran against a tax increase championed by then-Gov. Bob Taft, the term-limited Republican incumbent that year.
She remains the only certified public accountant ever elected auditor. She joined the Kasich ticket in 2010 rather than seek a second term.
As lieutenant governor, she has doubled as the state’s insurance director and has headed Mr. Kasich’s Common Sense Initiative to review regulations to prevent them from hurting the state’s business climate.
She filled in for Mr. Kasich at many official functions during the governor’s unsuccessful run for the GOP presidential nomination last year, but she always stressed that Mr. Kasich was still running the state from the campaign trail.
As of the end of 2016, Ms. Taylor had banked $1.1 million in her federal non-profit PAC, according to a political consultant, compared to about $2.5 million each for Mr. Husted and Mr. DeWine.
Among potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates next year are Richard Cordray, appointed by President Obama to head the U.S. Consumer Finance Protection Bureau; U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, of the Youngstown area; former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of northeast Ohio; and former state Rep. Connie Pillich of Cincinnati.
Ms. Taylor obtained a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a Master’s degree in taxation from the University of Akron.
First Published February 23, 2017, 7:34 p.m.
