Former U.S. attorney announces run for Ohio attorney general

SANDUSKY — Cleveland attorney Steve Dettelbach says he wants to put his experience as a prosecutor and civil rights attorney to work for the people of Ohio.The former U.S. attorney for the Cleveland area has announced that he's running for Ohio attorney general next year as a Democrat. He vowed to fight crime and work to make sure everyone is treated fairly."As a prosecutor for more than 20 years, I fought terrorists, the opioid crisis, corrupt politicians, and corporate fraud. Now I'm running for Attorney General to continue to fight for the people of Ohio," he said.State auditor Dave Yost, a Republican, also is running for attorney general. The man holding the post, Mike DeWine, wants to become governor next year.Dettelbach, 51, lives in Solon.In a telephone interview, he told the Register that as he has travelled through Ohio, he has talked to many Ohioans in working families who are having a hard time."They are feeling like they can't get ahead, like the system is rigged," Dettelbach said."People feel like they're being left out …. most of all, they feel like nobody's fighting for them," he said.Dettelbach said his career as a prosecutor and civil rights attorney shows that he is a fighter.Born in Cleveland raised in various Cleveland suburbs in the east side, Dettelbach took his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth and then earned a law degree at Harvard University.His resume includes working as a civil rights attorney for the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., serving as a lawyer for the Senate Judiciary Committee, being a clerk for a judge, and being in private practice. But he spent much of his time, about 20 years, as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Cleveland, serving as the U.S. attorney in Cleveland for the Northern District of Ohio during the Obama administration.Dettelbach has prosecuted terrorism cases, including the plot to blow up a bridge in the Cleveland area, and has prosecuted drug gangs selling opioids.Dettelbach said he prosecuted both Democrats and Republicans in public corruption cases. He said it makes sense to have a Democratic attorney general in a state which has many Republican office holders."One party rule is an invitation to trouble. We saw that in Cuyahoga County," he said. "I think that two party rule is a good thing."Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Steve Dettelbach