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Cordray Strongly Supports Minimum Wage Increase, DeWine Has Reservations

By Andy Chow

Published October 5, 2018 at 8:53 PM EDT

Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Richard Cordray, Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Mike DeWine

During a digital forumwith young Ohioans, candidates for governor Mike DeWine and Rich Cordray laid out what they thought about the possibility of a minimum wage increase.

Democratic Nominee Rich Cordray says it’s time to raise the minimum wage, stopping short of saying exactly what he thinks it should be. “If you pay people fairly for work then I think we will grow our economy and I think families will be able to thrive and I think our state will be better off. People have debated the minimum wage for years and I don’t agree that it necessarily costs jobs, it depends, it’s situational,” says Cordray.

WATCH: Cordray shares his thoughts on increasing minimum wage

Republican Nominee Mike DeWine says he’s open to the possibility of raising the minimum wage. “But what we don’t want to do is we don’t want to cause people to lose jobs, we don’t want that starting job not to be out there,” says DeWine who warns that businesses could find ways to use technology to make those positions obsolete, such as self-service kiosks at fast food restaurants.

WATCH: DeWine shares his thoughts on increasing the minimum wage