UPDATED: Cordray may file elections complaint against Crites

Richard Cordray’s campaign may file a complaint against attorney general rival Mike Crites over a contribution he received weeks after promising to dismiss a lawsuit if elected as the state’s top attorney.

Crites received $5,000 from the RPM Manufacturing in America's political action committee on August 31, according to contribution reports filed with the secretary of state. Ten days earlier Crites announced that if he became attorney general he’d drop the Ohio’s lawsuit against 10 companies over a lead paint complaint.

Cordray’s campaign alleges that this donation and Crites’ subsequent promise to dismiss the lawsuit amounts to a quid pro quo under state law and is grounds for a possible complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission.

While RPM isn’t a defendant in the lawsuit, it is a member of the National Paint & Coatings Association, as are two defendants in the lawsuit: Sherwin-Williams of Cleveland and Lyondell Chemical Company of Texas.

Cordray spokesperson Leesa Brown said the donation from a member of the same business association as two of the defendants raises the question of whether Crites was given money after he promised to drop the lawsuit.

When asked if Cordray’s campaign was going to file an OEC complaint, Brown said she was open to the idea.

“Stay tuned,” she said.

UPDATE: Crites spokesperson Jen Detwiler said this OEC complaint is empty.

"Richard Cordray is grasping at straws. If he had a serious complaint to bring before the Elections Commission, he wouldn’t have waited until the Crites campaign announced and Elections Commission compliant," she said.

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