Lawmaker Launches Bid For Treasurer's Post

A Democratic state lawmaker is announcing plans to challenge Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in 2014. Third-term state Rep. Connie Pillich, of suburban Cincinnati, said Monday she'll focus her campaign on fighting for working families, fellow small business owners and senior citizens. Pillich has been a lawyer, businesswoman and captain in the U.S. Air Force. Without using his name, she criticized Mandel for absenteeism from his state position during a failed run for the U.S. Senate last year and for not wanting the job. Ohio Republican Chairman-elect Matthew Borges (BOHR'-jihs) said Mandel, a U.S. Marine veteran, has been a responsible watchdog of state tax dollars. Borges cited Mandel's record of cutting his own budget, modernizing the office and maintaining the high credit rating of Ohio's investment fund.