Ohio’s Richest Republican Backer Leslie Wexner Quits Party After Visit From President Obama

He said he had been a Republican since college, but would now consider himself an independent.

Credit: Astrid Stawiar, Getty

Former President Barack Obama visited Ohio looking to boost the campaign prospects of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray, who served as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during Obama’s second term.

Inadvertently, Obama also seemed to convince a longtime Republican, and the state’s wealthiest man, to leave his own party.

Leslie H. Wexner, the fashion retail tycoon whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $5.9 billion, recently told a small audience in Columbus that he has decided to quit the party he has called home for decades after Obama’s visit.

View the complete September 15 article by Gideon Resnick on the DailyBeast.com website here.