“Terrible Twos,” “Will DeWine Duck?” And “Pays to Have Friends In High Places:” The Mess Surrounding Mike DeWine’s Campaign This Week
July 25, 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.
Here are some stories you may have missed:
THE TERRIBLE TWOS. Last Thursday was the second anniversary of Larry Householder’s arrest and Saturday marked the third anniversary of DeWine signing the tainted HB 6 into law, two milestones in what would become the largest public corruption scandal in state history. Instead of coming clean and sharing what they knew and when, Mike DeWine and those in his inner circle continue to refuse to tell Ohioans what they knew about the scandal and when they knew it. And it’s still costing Ohioans $287,000 each day. From his meeting with Mike Dowling and Chuck Jones to the resignation of top staffer Dan McCarthy to FirstEnergy donations to his daughter, DeWine seems to have something to hide. While Republicans like DeWine continue to try and “no comment” their way out of the scandal, Democrats are fighting each and every day to make sure that doesn’t happen. That’s why we’ve sued Mike DeWine over his refusal to turn over records connected to the scandal. So far, crickets on our updated records requests.
WILL DEWINE DUCK DEBATES? Mike DeWine has already dodged one debate this year, too scared to take on the likes of political heavyweights like Jim Renacci and Joe Blystone. But Ohioans deserve answers on issues ranging from the FirstEnergy bribery scandal to his anti-abortion stances to his refusing to heed concerns from Ohio law enforcement about dangerous gun bills he signed into law. Last week, Nan Whaley called on DeWine to debate across the state. DeWine can’t run away scared this time. He must face the voters straight on and face consequences if he doesn’t. Ohio voters deserve nothing less.
PAYS TO HAVE FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES. As part of his taxpayer-funded official duties as governor, Mike DeWine regularly releases appointments to various state boards. However, it seems as if DeWine is once again playing politics with a state-funded process by appointing Eleanore Awadalla to the University of Toledo Board of Trustees. Records show Awadalla also donated at least $5,000 to the DeWine-Husted campaign in the last two elections, raising questions about whether the appointment was politically motivated. First time this happened? Hardly. Last month, DeWine appointed Lynn Isaac to the same board. He donated at least $10,000 to the DeWine-Husted campaign. Ohioans deserve answers about these appointments, but if history shows us anything we know DeWine will keep hiding the truth.
Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. Have a great week!
###