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For Immediate Release:

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Columbus, OH — While Ohioans heard this week from candidates of both parties in the #OHSen primary and are set to hear from the Democratic candidates in #OHGov race tonight, one key debate is missing, and it’s because Mike DeWine is too scared to debate.

Threatened by the likes of Jim Renacci and Joe Blystone, and consistently underwater in support from his own party, DeWine ducked out of today’s Republican #OHGov debate, once again showing he’s not the leader Ohio deserves.

“Leaders lead. Period. If Mike DeWine were confident in his re-election position and the stances he’s taken, he’d be proud to stand up there on the stage and debate. Instead, he’s cowering from accountability, once again showing our state how weak he really is,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

Below is a list of questions hard-working Ohioans are still waiting for answers on from Mike DeWine, questions that could have been covered during today’s debate:

• Why won’t DeWine pass fair maps?

• What did Mike DeWine know about the largest public corruption scandal in state history and when?
• Why did DeWine appoint Sam Randazzo, someone with close ties to the energy industry, to lead the organization charged with overseeing energy regulations in Ohio, despite concerns raised by experts?
• Does Mike DeWine still believe Randazzo did a ‘good job’ despite the multimillion-dollar bribe he took from FirstEnergy?
• Does DeWine think it’s okay that his son hasn’t recused himself from the redistricting cases, despite the fact his dad is a key defendant?
• When will DeWine live up to his promise to ‘do something’ to keep Ohioans safe from gun violence?
• Why does DeWine continue to take credit for the American Rescue Plan even though he opposed it?

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Wilberforce, OH — Today, the leading GOP Senate candidates participated in a debate sponsored by the Ohio Debate Commission. In response, Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Michael Beyer released the following statement:  

“All of the out-of-touch millionaires embarrassed themselves tonight as they injected more nasty attacks into their chaotic and out-of-control primary.”  

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For Immediate Release:

Monday, March 28, 2022

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chair Elizabeth Walters issued the following statement (again) after Republicans (again) passed GOP-gerrymandered state legislative maps that are sure to cost Ohioans millions more.

“Republicans on the commission have betrayed their oath to the Ohio Constitution. And the price tag for Ohioans goes up as they insist on pushing GOP-gerrymandered maps rather than do the jobs they were elected to do. Today’s latest political stunt will create even more election chaos for our state and cost Ohioans millions of dollars. It didn’t have to be this way, all Republicans had to do was their jobs.”

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Columbus, OH — In new commentary in the Washington Post, Dana Milbank slams Silicon Valley Vance for his “elite-level phoniness.” Vance has made his crusade against elites a major theme of his campaign, despite the fact that he freely admits it is “objectively true” that he’s an elite himself. 

“Ohioans know the real Silicon Valley Vance: an Ivy League-educated, Big Tech elite profiteer,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.   

Washington Post: Opinion: Ivy League Republicans’ phony rebellion against the ‘elites’

Dana Milbank

March 25, 2022

• These phonies must be onto something, because a new generation of pretend populists aims to join them in the Senate.
• Then there’s J.D. Vance, Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, who bemoans that “our elites don’t care about the American people” and the “elites in the ruling class in this country are robbing us blind.”
• “Us”? Before running for office, Vance, another Yale Law School graduate, allowed that it was “objectively true” that he’s an elite. Now Vance even attacks Republican elites, saying, “Establishment Republican apologies for our oligarchy should always come with the following disclaimer: ‘Big Tech pays my salary.’”
• So who pays Vance’s salary? CNBC reported that “a great deal” of Vance’s income came from ventures linked to Big Tech billionaire investor Peter Thiel and other tech investors.
• That’s some elite-level phoniness.

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  March 28, 2022 

Good Monday afternoon, and welcome back to Mike Check, your weekly source of all the infighting, conspiracy spewing and corruption that’s making headlines in and around the Republican governor’s race and Mike DeWine’s statehouse, courtesy of the Ohio Democratic Party.

As the gubernatorial race heats up, Republicans are in disarray with Mike DeWine’s popularity dropping by the day, facing attacks both inside and outside of the Republican Party and having to answer for the largest public corruption scandal in state history. It’s hard to keep up with all of the corruption and mess surrounding Mike DeWine and the GOP gubernatorial primary, so here are some stories you may have missed:

MAPMAKER, MAPMAKER. It’s a situation we’ve seen before, as we are once again up to the 11th hour of a redistricting map deadline. Mike DeWine and Republicans are once again refusing to do their jobs and pass fair maps, costing Ohioans tens of millions of dollars in the process. Even though he promised to be a “leader” this time around, DeWine once again is taking a backseat to his fellow Republicans on the commission who continue to drag their feet and politicize the process rather than work with mapmakers to create fair maps. Once again, Mike DeWine has a decision to make: Will he stand with voters and work with Democrats to pass fair maps or will he cave to his fellow Republicans once again?

EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES. We’re just under 24 hours away from what is sure to be a “riveting” debate between Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial candidates. Sorry, we had to edit that first line after Mike DeWine forced the cancellation of a debate when he couldn’t find his spine and declined to participate in the Republican debate scheduled for this week. Yes, DeWine is too scared of the likes of Jim Renacci and Joe Blystone to show up and talk to Ohioans about critical issues, so now no one will debate in the GOP primary tomorrow. At least we’ll always have the beef expo…

Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. If you have questions my email is [email protected]. Have a great week!

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