Updated -- Former attorney general candidate Subodh Chandra wants to be the next U.S. attorney from Ohio.

Chandra ran against Marc Dann in the Democratic primary for attorney general two years ago and now said he's interested in appointment as the chief prosecutor of federal law for the northern district of Ohio. The office has jurisdiction 40 counties with 75 attorneys, which Chandra said can make a big impact in law enforcement.

"It's a terrific opportunity to make a big difference for public service and make a big difference in Ohio," he said.

Chandra said he's made his desire aware to the office of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain). Brown will be in the key position of suggesting Ohioans for both U.S. attorney positions after the Obama administration begins.

The foremost qualification Chandra said he has for becoming U.S. attorney is his leadership and management at the Cleveland law department. Chandra was its director and prosecuting attorney for 3 years and said he helped turn around an organization in disrepair. One of the biggest accomplishments at the department was reducing the amount spent on external attorneys from $7 million to $700,000.

"I don't want to take sole credit either for what I did in the Cleveland law department because it was a team effort by a lot of the career staff there," Chandra said, adding that the U.S. attorney's office may have morale problems after eight years of what he said was politicization of the Justice Department by the Bush administration.

"My sense from talking to friends is that any morale problems arose from behavior in Washington rather than locally," Chandra said Friday following the interview.

Chandra was an early supporter of Barack Obama for president. He said he arranged a fundraiser for Obama in Cleveland before the candidate formally announced in February 2007. Chandra was in contact with the Obama campaign in 2008 related to its efforts in the Cleveland area. However, Chandra said he does not think his support for the president-elect should be a factor because the U.S. attorney position is non-partisan.

As assistant U.S. attorney from 1999 to 2002, Chandra said he did not interact with Obama's attorney general pick Eric Holder, who worked at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Chandra said he's open to running for office again but said he only threw his hat into the ring in 2006 for the specific job of attorney general.

"While I may be open to it, there's no particular job I'm interested in. When I ran, I ran because I was interested in that particular job, not because I was interested in holding office," he said.

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