COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said he will act swiftly to replace Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann.
Strickland, a fellow Democrat who led the charge for Dann to step down, said he has collected a list of people in the days since revelations of Dann’s extramarital affair and role in a sexual harassment scandal were revealed. But he said serious screenings had not yet begun while Dann was still refusing to leave office.
Dann, 46, succumbed to the pressure Wednesday, saying the negative publicity was overshadowing the good work of the office’s 1,400 employees. On Thursday, Ohio Inspector Tom Charles, the state watchdog, planned to discuss an investigation of Dann’s operations. State leaders of both parties say the probe will continue despite the resignation.
Deputies from Charles’ office removed a cartload of computers and files Wednesday from Dann’s office hours before he resigned.
Under law, first assistant attorney general Tom Winters will assume the responsibilities of attorney general until Strickland names a replacement. In a letter to the staff, Winters called it a sad and emotional day and commended the staff for its “nationwide reputation as aggressive and professional advocates for the people of Ohio.”
Among those mentioned as possible successors are Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, higher education chancellor Eric Fingerhut, state Treasurer Richard Cordray, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Bill Mason and Strickland’s chief legal counsel Kent Markus.
Strickland’s appointee would serve until November, when voters would be handed the task of choosing a successor.
The resignation by Dann, a Democrat elected on an anti-corruption platform in 2006, ended a 10-day odyssey in which he had refused repeated, forceful calls to step down by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and others within his party, faced growing investigative scrutiny, and seen articles of impeachment filed against him.
Fellow Democrats led the charge to remove Dann, catching him in a web of his own words. Dann had admitted at the conclusion of the high-profile harassment investigation May 2 not only to having an affair but to hiring ill-qualified friends, fostering bad office behavior, and being overwhelmed and unprepared for the job to which he was elected.
Several of those sentiments showed up in impeachment articles filed Tuesday.
Appearing beside Strickland Wednesday, Dann said he realized it was necessary to leave to preserve the ability of the office to carry out his priorities. The 46-year-old from Youngstown had fashioned himself an Ohio version of the crime-fighting Eliot Spitzer, and spent his first year taking on some of America’s most powerful business interests.
“It is now clear to me that the only way to protect ... priorities for the office of attorney general and for the people of Ohio is to remove myself from the situation,” he said. “This will preserve the great work being done by the office.”
When asked what qualities he would look for in a new attorney general, Strickland said without hesitation: “Maturity.”
“We need someone who can provide confidence to the many, many employees of the attorney general’s office,” he said.
Dann on Tuesday had asked that the inspector general’s investigation be delayed, but his request was rebuffed.
Democratic state Rep. Bob Hagan, a longtime Dann ally from his hometown of Youngstown, told reporters that he thought the end came when the deputies began taking the items and Dann realized how difficult his job would be without them and without support from other officeholders.
“I think it just came crashing down on him, and he knew that he couldn’t survive,” Hagan told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.
Youngstown lawyer Michael Harshman said it was mainly a family decision.
Dann arrived home in Liberty at about 8:20 p.m. and went immediately inside without answering questions.
“This is a night that we really need as a family,” Dann’s wife, Alyssa Lenhoff, wrote in a handwritten note to reporters. “Marc is home and I am sure that at some point he may be inclined to talk with you. But not tonight, and I’m truly sorry that we can’t be more cooperative. Thank you for respecting our privacy tonight.”
Attorney Rex Elliott, who represented two 26-year-old junior staffers whose sexual harassment complaints against a Dann aide unraveled things at the office, called Dann’s resignation long overdue. He anticipates his clients will have a much better chance at negotiating a legal settlement for damages now that Dann is gone.
One of the women, Vanessa Stout, told The Columbus Dispatch that the news of Dann’s resignation hadn’t yet taken full effect.
“We still didn’t get an apology, but now I just want to recover and move on,” she said. “This turned out to be more than anyone expected it to be.”
The other complainant, Cindy Stankoski, said she also is ready to move on.
“I was just starting a career. I never would have imagined in a million years that this would happen,” she said. “It’s a shame that not only us but many others had to go through this.”
Two of Dann’s top aides were fired as a result of the harassment probe. Dann’s friends, they also had been his roommates at a Columbus-area town house apartment, where gatherings were marked by heavy drinking, pizza and young women.
The employees, general services chief Anthony Gutierrez and communications director Leo Jennings III, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
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