Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor Officially Becomes Fourth Candidate In GOP Race For Governor

Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor made her official announcement at the City Club of Cleveland.
M.L. Schultze
Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor made her official announcement at the City Club of Cleveland.

Months after she made it clear she would be running for governor, Ohio’s Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor made it official. And she did so in an increasingly rare political forum: an event where the public could – and did – ask some challenging questions.

When Mary Taylor told more than 100 people at the City Club of Cleveland that she’s officially running to succeed John Kasich, she got a standing ovation. But she also was pressed on how she differentiates herself from Kasich – whom some conservative Republicans criticize for embracing Medicaid expansion and for NOT embracing Donald Trump. Taylor responded that she’s her own person – politically and personally. “I haven’t always agreed with this governor but I respect the man and I respect the position and my disagreements came behind closed doors.”

As Taylor was making her announcement, one of her primary opponents, Congressman Jim Renacci, was tweeting a graphic mocking the other three -- Taylor, Secretary of State Jon Husted and Attorney General Mike DeWine -- for playing musical chairs with their statewide political offices.

Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau

M.L. Schultze came to WKSU as news director in July 2007 after 25 years at The Repository in Canton, where she was managing editor for nearly a decade. She’s now the digital editor and an award-winning reporter and analyst who has appeared on NPR, Here and Now and the TakeAway, as well as being a regular panelist on Ideas, the WVIZ public television's reporter roundtable.