Ex-rep Betty Sutton to run for Ohio governor

Former Rep. Betty Sutton (D) will run for governor of Ohio in 2018, The Plain Dealer reported on Tuesday.

Sutton is the second Democrat to announce a run for governor, joining state Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni (D), who announced his run last week.

“I spent my life standing up for working families — the laborers, the firefighters, the teachers,” Sutton told the newspaper in a phone interview. “I want to be the governor who stands up to the powerful interests [on behalf of] working people.”

{mosads}Sutton served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 2007 to 2013. She most recently worked as the administrator for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., a federal agency within the Department of Transportation.

“This is a natural step, and I’m very, very lucky to have people in my corner supporting the public service I’ve done in the past and what I can do in the future as governor,” Sutton said in the interview.

Ohio’s current governor, John Kasich (R), is unable to run again in 2018 due to term limits. Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor announced last month that she would run for the Republican nomination.