State Treasurer Richard Cordray is the Democratic candidate for Ohio Attorney General.

An attorney educated at the University of Chicago, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy, and later returned to argue six cases before the Court, both rare achievements. He taught for 15 years at the Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. Cordray will not be new to the Attorney General's office, where he served as Ohio's first State Solicitor, conducting and supervising all of Ohio's toughest cases in the state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. In that job, he also initiated the Criminal Law Project to support local prosecutors in their Ohio Supreme Court cases.

Cordray was elected Ohio Treasurer in 2006. There, he manages all state banking functions, oversees an investment portfolio averaging $18 billion, and is the custodian of more than $200 billion in pension and other assets. His primary goals in the Treasurer's office are to safeguard taxpayer funds, restore public trust in state government, and promote financial security for Ohioans.

Upon taking office, Cordray made small business growth a top priority. As a former small business owner, Cordray understands the difficulties of running one's own enterprise. He immediately revitalized the GrowNOW program, which provides low-cost funding for the small businesses that create and keep jobs in our hometowns. As of June 2008, GrowNOW has grown eight-fold and has affected many thousands of Ohio jobs. For his efforts to aid small businesses, the U.S. Small Business Administration named him the 2008 Financial Services Champion of the Year for the Midwest Region.
Cordray has worked steadfastly to fight home foreclosure in Ohio by organizing more than 50 Save Our Homes county task forces, which combine the efforts of government, non-profits, and the private sector to match resources to those facing foreclosure. Along with Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, Cordray helped organize a state effort to promote mediation programs in local courts to keep families in their homes. In 2008, Neighborhood Housing Services honored Cordray for his long-time commitment to foreclosure prevention.

Cordray served as Franklin County Treasurer between 2002-2007. In 2005, he was named the national "County Leader of the Year" by American City & County magazine in recognition of his innovative service to the taxpayers and citizens.

An active life-long volunteer, Cordray's first community service was as a child, working alongside his parents on behalf of the mentally retarded. This experience affected him so deeply that, as a State Representative, he sponsored the Community Service Education Act to promote service learning as a way to teach our schoolchildren responsibility and moral values.

Richard Cordray lives near Grove City with wife Peggy and twins Danny and Holly.