Former First Lady of Ohio Frances Strickland and potential First Lady Peggy Cordray brought their message of women’s rights to Zanesville Tuesday afternoon during their first stop of the “Our Voices” tour.

The women will continue south over the next few days when they make similar stops in Marietta and Athens to discuss issues such as workplace equality, women’s health care and equal pay.

In a small room at the Nelson T. Gant Foundation on West Main Street, Frances Strickland explained her decision to support Rich Cordray’s run for Ohio Governor by campaigning with his wife, Peggy.

During the primaries, Strickland and her husband Ted, the former governor of Ohio, stayed pretty quiet in terms of endorsements. But as the general election crawled closer, Strickland eventually reached out to Peggy Cordray.

“One day I thought, ‘no, sir. I’m going to look at who I want to be the next first lady,’ because I know what can be done with that role, and, hands down, it was Peggy Cordray.”

Strickland boasted of Cordray’s background as a mother, attorney and law professor, even admitting that Cordray would better understand the intricacies of policy than she did as First Lady.

“I think this is really a strong plus for those, especially agencies that are working with the families and the children, to have a first lady that can hear about policies that are not working and not helpful, and can then go back and talk about it to a governor who will listen to her,” said Strickland.

Cordray furthered Strickland’s sentiments, explaining the bond she has with her husband, Rich, and how they share their individual lives with one another.

“At home, as well as in politics, he is kind, he’s compassionate, he’s caring, he’s really smart and he is incredibly hard working,” said Cordray. “He really wants to get things done. He wants to make a difference, and he does when he’s elected to a job.”

But if elected governor, Rich Cordray wouldn’t be the only one stepping into a new role.

Peggy has plans of her own, too.

Just like Strickland did as First Lady, Cordray wants to focus her efforts around families.

“When she was First Lady, she (Strickland) did a tremendous job working with the Family and Children First Council, which is a fantastic organization in Ohio that operates at both the state level and at the local level,” said Cordray.

Cordray explained that the FCFC works to connect the various family service groups throughout the state so that communities know what’s working for others.

“Of course, I’d like to be involved in a variety of other things going on in the state, but that (the FCFC) would be my central focus,” said Cordray.

Other issues important to Cordray, as well as her husband and his running mate, Betty Sutton, include improved quality of life for women.

Cordray mentioned a commission for women and girls that her husband and Sutton wish to create.

“I think that many parents are essentially doing two full-time jobs, and we need leadership in Ohio that recognizes that and tries to make sure that people are paid fairly, that women receive equal pay for equal work, and that workplace policies are consistent with what we want for our families,” said Cordray.

According to Cordray, 48 percent of Ohio’s workforce is made up of women, and two-thirds of those women are the bread winners for their families.

“In Ohio, so much of our workforce policies are still rooted in a different era, and those policies make it difficult for women to achieve true economic equality,” said Cordray. “It’s making it difficult for women to do the things that they need to do, both for their families, and to get ahead at work.”

Along with her stance on rights for women, Cordray also discussed the issues most salient to the community members in the room.

“As the people were asking questions and making comments and talking about what they did, what I saw immediately was that we had a room full of people that were doing that kind of day to day service that does make such a difference in people’s lives, and does make such a difference in the life of our communities,” said Cordray.

Education, healthcare, the opiate epidemic and Issue 1 were all brought to Cordray’s attention as matters most important to those particular Muskingum County residents.

“It was inspiring to hear what people were saying about the work they do here,” said Cordray. “It gave me a sense of some of the specific issues and concerns of this area, and it also gave me a sense of the wonderful types of people you have here.”

As a closing comment, Cordray added that Zanesville is no strange place to her husband since his father was born in Dresden so Rich was often in the area growing up to visit his grandmother.