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Columbus, OH — Today, Mike DeWine is once again touting statewide grants for law enforcement. The problem? Mike DeWine opposed the legislation passed by Democrats that made this funding possible. The funding grant for crime prevention programs and police departments across Ohio comes from the American Rescue Plan, legislation that was passed by Ohio Democrats and that Mike DeWine said he would have voted against in March 2021. It’s another example of DeWine’s desperation and hypocrisy, using Democratic accomplishments to try to stay relevant politically and the latest pathetic campaign stunt using Ohio law enforcement as a political pawn in the process.     

“If it were up to Mike DeWine, Ohio law enforcement would not be seeing one cent of this critical grant funding to keep streets safer. DeWine opposed the legislation that makes this funding possible, and his efforts to claim credit for the work of Ohio Democrats to secure critical resources for Ohio law enforcement is shameful,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

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For Immediate Release:
Friday, June 3, 2022

Toledo, OH — Late yesterday, Mike DeWine released a list of appointments to various state boards – part of his taxpayer-funded official duties as governor. However, it seems as if DeWine played politics with the process when he appointed Lynn Isaac to the University of Toledo Board of Trustees. Isaac has donated $10,000 to DeWine since he was elected as governor in 2018, raising questions about whether the appointment was politically motivated.

“Mike DeWine has long dodged questions about pay-to-play schemes and backroom deals, with a long record of rewarding the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of workers. Now, we’re seeing his mega-donors receiving cushy state board appointments. DeWine has tried to hide the truth for too long. Ohioans deserve answers about how this appointment came about and whether this appointment was politically motivated,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

 Find the appointment announcement from DeWine HERE and below:

Find the records of Isaac’s donations to DeWine HERE and below:

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Columbus, OH – In an interview with Fox News, California Millionaire J.D. Vance called cutting taxes for middle-class families a “gimmick,” showing just how out-of-touch he is from the hardworking Ohioans who are struggling with rising costs. 

It’s not the first time J.D. Vance has attacked tax cuts for working families. When asked about the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan, Vance said it only helps “on the surface.” That’s easy for a millionaire like J.D. Vance to say. The Child Tax Credit benefitted 1.3 million Ohio families who received $300 per month per child that helped them put food on the table and pay for healthcare and child care. 

These aren’t the only out-of-touch comments Vance is having to defend recently. Vance was caught downplaying the results of bad trade deals that have cost Ohio over 130,000 jobs. Vance said, “I think you can make a pretty good argument that it was not necessarily bad trade deals… You know, it’s not that we have this terrible trade deal with China.”

It’s not the first time he’s blamed Ohioans for bad trade deals. In 2016, Vance trashed Ohioans in Hillbilly Elegy, writing, “We talk about the value of hard work, but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: (Barack) Obama shut down the coal mines or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance.”

“Only a millionaire like J.D. Vance would think a tax cut for working families is a gimmick. Ohioans can’t trust a fraud like J.D. Vance to stand up for anyone but himself and his fellow millionaire coastal elitist friends,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, June 2, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters called on Mike DeWine to donate the money he received from the gun lobby. DeWine has taken more money from the gun lobby than any other Ohio-based politician since 2010. After a mass shooting in Dayton in 2019, DeWine promised to ‘do something’ to keep Ohioans safe from gun violence. Instead, he’s caved to his buddies in the gun lobby and signed several bills that would put Ohioans at greater risk of gun violence, including bills opposed by Ohio law enforcement.

This is not the first time DeWine faced issues with campaign donations. In fact, he was forced to donate contributions linked to FirstEnergy and the largest public corruption scandal in state history. Ohio Democrats are calling on DeWine to finally put the needs of his constituents – rather than the gun lobby – first and return the campaign donations he’s taken.

“DeWine can send a clear message to Ohioans right now by donating all of the money he’s taken from the gun lobby. The thousands of dollars in campaign cash is not worth the lives of Ohioans lost to gun violence. DeWine should donate this money, and more importantly, stop doing the gun lobby’s bidding in Columbus,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters.

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For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Columbus, OH — Once again, Mike DeWine has a choice to make: Will he ‘do something’ and stand with Ohio teachers and law enforcement officers to veto an extreme bill that would create more armed teachers in the classroom? Or will he once again cave to radical members of the legislature and the gun lobby to put more Ohio students at risk?

House Bill 99, which would cut the training time required for school employees to carry a gun around students, has been opposed by the Fraternal Order of Police and Ohio teachers for the risks it carries to Ohio law enforcement officers and students. The bill has already passed the Ohio House and is likely to pass the Ohio Senate and head to DeWine’s desk. But DeWine, after promising to ‘do something’ after the Dayton mass shooting in 2019 to curb violence, has instead consistently signed bills that put Ohio families and police officers at greater risk for gun violence. And it’s easy to see why, a new Cleveland.com report shows DeWine took the most gun lobby money of any Ohio politician since 2010.

Today, Ohio Democrats are calling on Mike DeWine to grow a spine.

“Mike DeWine has a choice to make in the coming days: stand with Ohio students, teachers and police officers or cave once again to the gun lobby and extremists in the legislature. If DeWine really wanted to ‘do something’ to keep Ohio students safe from gun violence, he would veto this bill,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

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