ICYMI: Ohio Capital Journal: Mike DeWine is in Trouble
October 5, 2021
Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Ohio Capital Journal slammed Governor Mike DeWine this week for putting his desire to win reelection over doing the job he was elected to do and serve the interests of Ohioans. The editorial released Monday by Marilou Johanek does not mince words, calling DeWine ‘feckless,’ and pointing out the ways DeWine is putting the needs of our state behind the needs of his reelection campaign.
“[T]he 74-year-old multi-millionaire, with a slew of state and federal elected offices behind him, won’t risk a backlash from the red hats in the base. He won’t mount a fortified offense to the extreme, damaging policies being foisted on Ohio. He won’t do something that compromises his relationship with the far right. Ambition trumps courage,” writes Johanek.
“With so many critical issues facing our state right now, Mike DeWine’s partisan pandering is not only wrong, it’s irresponsible. Amid rising numbers of COVID-19, unconstitutional gerrymandering by the Ohio GOP and the biggest public corruption scandal in state history, the consequences of DeWine’s lack of leadership could not be more clear,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.
You can read more from the Ohio Capital Journal here and below:
- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is in trouble. He’s in full reelection mode, and nothing is going as planned.
- We’re still waiting for DeWine to “do something” about the explosion of COVID cases in the state overwhelming our hospitals.
- But as the delta variant rips through Ohio — still ranked near the bottom nationwide in COVID vaccinations — and infected children fill up intensive care units, the governor sits on his hands.
- [T]he 74-year-old multi-millionaire, with a slew of state and federal elected offices behind him, won’t risk a backlash from the red hats in the base. He won’t mount a fortified offense to the extreme, damaging policies being foisted on Ohio. He won’t do something that compromises his relationship with the far right. Ambition trumps courage.
- DeWine picked winning over us. He picked partisan extremism over evenhanded stewardship in the public interest. He chose the same disingenuous posturing he copped on COVID with his vote on gerrymandered legislative districts that give built-in advantage to Republicans. A leader who truly honored the overwhelming will of voters for fair, competitive districts that represent the actual balance of statewide voters, would have rejected the opposite. But DeWine didn’t.
- A “moderate” Republican might balk at signing a bill with an anti-LGBTQ provision slipped in that allows discrimination in health care. But a governor in the extreme camp, like DeWine, was fine with allowing health professionals to refuse service to LGBTQ patients and others.
- He remained squarely in the extreme lane when, instead of following through on his promise to “do something” to curb gun violence after Dayton, he signed expanded gun rights laws vigorously opposed as dangerous by law enforcement but supported by (surprise!) the gun lobby.
- DeWine is knee-deep in the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history that involved the fleecing of Ohio ratepayers by influential utilities with help from Republican friends in high places.
- DeWine couldn’t sign House Bill 6 — the bailout bill written for and by First Energy at the heart of the unparalleled corruption case — fast enough. This won’t end well for the governor, whose top lieutenants with close ties to First Energy have already slunk away.