Who is Mike DeWine, the Republican Ohio governor who has called for an end to the death penalty?
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine used his bully pulpit Tuesday to call for an end to the death penalty in Ohio.
The 79-year-old Republican touted his expertise on the issue as a former district attorney, both a member of the chamber of Congress and Ohio attorney general, as well as his seven years as governor.
But it’s not clear DeWine’s support for the policy change will make waves, even in a state controlled by his own party. That’s because DeWine is more moderate than many younger Republicans in the state, whose political aspirations hinge on the approval of President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of the death penalty.
Here’s a closer look at DeWine and his place in Ohio’s political landscape:
Fifty years of experience with the death penalty
DeWine was first elected to public office in 1976 when he served as prosecutor in Greene County, where he grew up. He still lives in the historic home here where he and his wife, who have eight children, host an annual summer ice cream party to encourage and celebrate GOP candidates and officeholders. The event ended its 50-year run this past weekend.
When DeWine was elected to the state Senate in 1980, Ohio had no death penalty law. The old one had been declared unconstitutional, and DeWine was instrumental in writing the new law, which cleared both legislatures by overwhelming bipartisan majorities. It has been in effect since 1981.
He said Tuesday that he has always believed the moral justification for the death penalty is its potential to deter violent crime.
During his four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, DeWine supported federal legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan that expanded the number of crimes subject to the death penalty. As a U.S. senator, he supported a bill signed by President Bill Clinton that aimed to speed up the review of capital cases in federal courts.
Among those positions, DeWine was Ohio’s lieutenant governor under the administration of prominent Republican Governor James Rhodes.
After losing his Senate re-election bid to Democrat Sherrod Brown in 2006, he took a brief break from politics before being elected Ohio attorney general in 2010. In that role, he “vigorously” enforced the state’s death penalty law, he said Tuesday.
Since he became governor in 2019, problems obtaining lethal injection drugs have led to an unofficial moratorium on executions in the state, which was last implemented in 2018.
Unstable relations with fellow Republicans
DeWine may be the titular chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, but that doesn’t mean his party always listens to him. He presided over a party full of internal divisions, especially during the Trump era.
The clashes became particularly acute during the COVID-19 pandemic between DeWine and then-state Health Director Amy Acton (now a Democrat). governor candidate – presided over One of the harshest reactions to the virus Within months, a faction of Republicans rebelled against DeWine’s powers, particularly over business closures, and even threatened to pass a bill restricting his powers. blame him.
After DeWine in 2023 lifted the ban Republican-dominated state legislature on gender-affirming care and transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports easily overrode his veto.
This year’s critical elections also saw divisions.
DeWine had tried to position popular former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel as a potential successor, appointing the moderate Republican as lieutenant governor last year. But the state GOP ran back Biotechnology billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who is supported by Trump, will run in the race in May 2025, before Tressel has even decided whether he will run. DeWine endorsed Ramaswamy in January.
DeWine said Tuesday that he did not share his decision to call for an end to the death penalty with Ramaswamy, who is now the GOP candidate for governor. Trump administration’s latest effort against Medicaid fraud revealed DeWine defends his administration’s work Ohio-born Ramaswamy is talking about the issue even as Vice President J.D. Vance and GOP lawmakers take aim at Ohio’s current anti-fraud efforts.
Other Republican voices side with DeWine
Supporters of DeWine’s push to repeal the death penalty in Ohio included many fellow Republicans, including some staunch conservatives.
“I was an advocate of the death penalty for many years,” former congresswoman and current state representative Jean Schmidt said in a statement. “My views have changed due to the risks of executing an innocent person, the exorbitant costs, and my belief in the sanctity of life. The death penalty is no longer a policy worth preserving.”
Former Ohio Auditor and Attorney General Jim Petro cited wrongful convictions as among the flaws that make the death penalty no longer tenable.
Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, grandson of President William Howard Taft and grandson of “Mr. Republican” Sen. Robert A. Taft Sr., also sided with DeWine.
Taft said DeWine “was thoughtful and gave this matter the attention it needed.”
