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Ted Strickland Dodges Question About Clinton's Wall Street Transcripts

March 14, 2016

Ted Strickland, the former governor of Ohio and current candidate for the Democratic Senate nomination in Ohio, dodged a question about Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street transcripts on Monday.

The governor, who was ousted by Republican presidential candidate John Kasich, has spent much of his campaign stumping for Hillary Clinton and providing few answers.

Strickland’s refusal to give answers continued Monday when he refused to answer whether Clinton should release the transcripts from her lucrative speeches to Wall Street firms.

"Do you think she should just release the transcripts, because if she doesn't it could look like she's hiding something?" MSNBC correspondent Chris Jansing asked.

"You know, these are distractions. What we ought to be talking about, and what I've heard Hillary talk about is what she's going to do for education, jobs, her position on trade," Strickland said.

Clinton has been criticized from across the political spectrum, including by her socialist rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), for not releasing the transcripts to speeches from the last few years. The speeches in question netted Clinton millions in speaking fees—she earned $675,000 from Goldman Sachs alone for three speeches. At the same time, Clinton has criticized Wall Street repeatedly on the campaign trail.

Much of Strickland's fundraising has come from bundlers and backers who themselves support Clinton in her fundraising efforts.

Strickland has a primary election on March 15 against his main challenger P.G. Sittenfeld, a member of the Cincinnati city council. If Strickland wins, he will face incumbent Sen. Rob Portman (R.) in November.