Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine defeated former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to win the governorship of the Buckeye State, PBS reported Tuesday night.
DeWine’s victory mirrors a similar win against Cordray in the 2010 attorney general’s race.
Cordray left the bureau last year to pursue the top executive position in his home state. As director, he worked on post-crisis regulations on mortgages, consumer financial contracts, payday loans, and more.
His departure set off a high-profile legal battle between progressives and the Trump administration over his successor, with the Trump administration prevailing. Since Cordray’s departure, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has also acted as CFPB director.
The bureau has been a political lightning rod for years, ever since Republicans blocked now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren D-Mass., from becoming the CFPB’s inaugural director. Warren campaigned for Cordray in Ohio.
Results for Democrats in the state were mixed overall. Sen. Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, cruised to re-election over Republican Rep. Jim Renacci.
