Months before he formally jumped into the race for Attorney General, Marc Dann was positioning himself for higher office.  Throughout the summer of 2005, he railed against the Bob Taft administration over the loss of millions at the Bureau of Workers Compensation through bad investments.  At one point, Dann even sued Taft to obtain records, hoping to tie the governor directly into "Coingate."  It was a wave the Senator from Trumbull County managed to ride all the way to the AG's office, holding his inauguration in Warren.

From the beginning, Dann brought local people onto his staff, hiring Youngstown Police Sgt. Rick Alli as his liaison with local law enforcement.  Although Alli didn't even possess a college degree, Dann called him his "top cop."

In the months that followed, Dann fulfilled campaign promises to open a satellite AG's office in downtown Youngstown, and accompanied officers on raids to crack down on crime.  But then problems surfaced.

Dann fired Rick Alli after discovering his top cop never quit the police department.  A month later, Dave Nelson of Girard, a part-time driver for the AG was dismissed after reporters learned he had a manslaughter conviction on his record.  In June, Dann curses at a local newspaper reporter outside a fundraiser for Barack Obama in Boardman.  Before long, the incident is running on websites all over the country.  As that furor subsides, Dann focuses on the sale of assets from Forum health, eventually hammering out a deal..

Ironically, as two of his staffers were making sexual harassment complaints against Anthony Gutierrez, another of Dann's friends -- and hires, the Attorney General himself makes a stop in the valley -- accepting an award from the Regional Chamber of Commerce, and telling us that day he still has big plans in office.

Less than a week later, the harassment scandal breaks, and Dann's been under siege ever since.