On the podcast, which was recorded in front of a small live audience, Springer demurred when his co-host and longtime friend, Gene Galvin, asked about his plans.

Let's talk about the elephant in the middle of the room.

You are being talked about as a candidate for governor.

What, what are your thoughts? Um...

The fact that he would first have to beat Cordray, a blue chip Democrat from the Obama administration, made it a moot point.About a week before Cordray formally declared his candidacy, Springer and his friend, Gene Galvin, recorded a special episode of their podcast in which Springer announced his decision regarding the 2018 race.

Jerry, I wanted to ask you something.

I know, uh, that in the last number of months, you have been asked by a number of people, like I say, some past office holders, some current office holders, some party officials, some county people from the Democratic Party, labor people, grassroots, but some people have come to you and said, "Please consider running for governor in the state of Ohio." And I know that you have sorta systematically processed this, and I wanna ask you, are you ready to talk about it, and if so, please do.