Mike DeWine
50th Ohio Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2011
Governor	John Kasich
Preceded by	Richard Cordray
United States Senator from Ohio
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Howard Metzenbaum
Succeeded by	Sherrod Brown
59th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
In office 1991–1994
Governor	George Voinovich
Preceded by	Paul Leonard
Succeeded by	Nancy Hollister
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 7th district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1991
Preceded by	Clarence J. "Bud" Brown Jr.
Succeeded by	Dave Hobson
Member of the Ohio Senate from the 10th district
In office January 2, 1981-December 13, 1982
Preceded by	John Mahoney
Succeeded by	Dave Hobson
Personal details
Born	Richard Michael DeWine (1947-01-05) January 5, 1947 (age 65) Springfield, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Frances Struewing
Residence	Cedarville, Ohio
Alma mater	Miami University (B.S.) Ohio Northern University College of Law (J.D.)
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic

Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine (born January 5, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who has been Ohio Attorney General since 2011. DeWine has held numerous offices on the state and federal level, including one term in the Ohio Senate, four terms in the United States House of Representatives, one term as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, and two terms in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007.

Biography[link]

Born in Springfield, Ohio, to Jean and Richard L. DeWine,^[1] DeWine lives in Cedarville, Ohio but grew up in neighboring Yellow Springs, Ohio. DeWine earned his Bachelor of Science degree in education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1969 and a Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University College of Law in 1972.

He and his wife Frances have had eight children, one of whom died in an automobile accident in 1993. Current Hamilton County, Ohio Common Pleas Court Judge R. Patrick DeWine is Mike DeWine's son. Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine (R-Fairborn) is DeWine's second cousin.

Political career[link]

At age 25, DeWine started working as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Greene County, Ohio, and in 1976 was elected County Prosecutor. In 1980 he was elected to the Ohio State Senate and served one term.

Only two years later, U.S. Representative Bud Brown of Ohio's 7th congressional district retired after 26 years in Congress; his father, Clarence Brown, Sr., had held the seat for 26 years before that. DeWine won the Republican nomination, assuring him of election in November. He was reelected three more times from this district, which stretches from his home in Springfield to the Columbus suburbs. He even ran unopposed in 1986 during what is regarded as a bad year for Republicans nationally.

DeWine gave up his seat in 1990 to run for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio as the running mate of George Voinovich. The Voinovich-DeWine ticket was easily elected.

In 1992, DeWine unsuccessfully ran against the former astronaut and incumbent Senator John Glenn. His campaign used the phrase, "What on earth has John Glenn done?".^[2]

In 1994, DeWine ran for the United States Senate, defeating prominent attorney Joel Hyatt (the son-in-law of the then-incumbent U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum) by a solid 14-point margin, largely on the coattails of Voinovich's landslide reelection bid for governor. DeWine was reelected in 2000, defeating gunshow promoter Ronald Dickson (161,185 votes, or 12.44%) and former U.S. Rep. Frank Cremeans (104,219 votes, or 8.05%)in the primary^[3] and Ted Celeste (brother of former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste) in the general election.

DeWine was defeated in the 2006 midterm elections by Democrat Sherrod Brown, receiving 905,644 fewer votes in 2006 than he received in 2000.^[4][5]

On July 22, 2009, DeWine announced his intention to run for Attorney General of the State of Ohio. On November 2, 2010, DeWine was elected as the new Attorney General, defeating Democratic incumbent Richard Cordray.

Political positions[link]

Social issues[link]

DeWine is opposed to legal abortion. In the Senate, he was the lead sponsor of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.^[6]

DeWine opposes same-sex marriage and sponsored the Federal Marriage Amendment but opposed State Issue 1, Ohio's constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions.

In 2004 DeWine co-sponsored an amendment to renew the ban on common semi-automatic weapons.^[7] He was one of only two Republican senators to vote against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act ,^[8] which banned lawsuits against gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers for criminal misuse of their products. In the 2006 election cycle, DeWine was the first senatorial candidate to be endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and displayed that endorsement on his campaign webpage.^[9] Furthermore, DeWine authored Senate Bill 954, to extend lifetime bans on gun ownership on citizens who happened to get a conviction in a foreign country, which carried a jail term of more than a year. That bill only garnered the endorsement of one other Senator, Dianne Feinstein of California.^[10]

After President George W. Bush nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers on October 3, 2005, for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, DeWine said "I think the fact she doesn't have judicial experience will add to the diversity of the Supreme Court... There is no reason everyone has to have that same (judicial) background."^[11] Opposition from conservative groups unhappy with Miers' resume ultimately sank her nomination.

DeWine sponsored the "Stars on Cars" legislation, which appeared in the 2005 highway bill. The rule requires that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration star safety rating information be displayed on part of the window sticker on new cars beginning with the 2008 model year.^[12]

Senate Committees[link]

DeWine sat on both the Senate Judiciary and Select Intelligence committees.

2006 bid for re-election[link]

DeWine faced conservative Republican challengers William G. Pierce and David R. Smith for the nomination of the Republican Party in the May 2006 primary. DeWine won with 71.82% of the votes.^[13]

DeWine's Democratic opponent in the November 2006 general election was 13th District Congressman Sherrod Brown, who won 78.05% of Democrats' votes in the primary, defeating truck driver Merrill Samuel Keiser, Jr.^[14] Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett dropped out of the Democratic race earlier in the election cycle.

Most political watchers believed DeWine was one of the Senate's most vulnerable incumbents in the 2006 elections. Democrats poured resources into the Ohio race due to considerable anger at corruption in the Bob Taft administration. In addition, many conservative Republicans felt that DeWine was too "liberal" and "out of touch with conservative values" for their liking, especially considering his well-established record of supporting gun control, and being a member of the "Gang of 14". DeWine even tried to distance himself from the Republican party in television ads, where he touted himself as an "Independent."^[15]

At first, the GOP worked hard to keep DeWine in office. However, according to an article in the October 16, 2006, edition of The New York Times, top Republican officials on the national level determined that DeWine would probably be defeated and moved financial support from his race to other Republican senatorial candidates they felt were more likely to win.^[16]

DeWine lost by a margin of almost 12%, as below:

DeWine did well in most of his home region of western Ohio, but Brown dominated almost all of the eastern half of the state, along with the Lake Erie shore out to Toledo.^[17]

Post-Senate career[link]

DeWine accepted positions teaching government courses at Cedarville University, Ohio Northern University and Miami University. In 2007, he joined the law firm Keating Muething & Klekamp as corporate investigations group co-chair.^[18] He also advised the Ohio campaign of John McCain's 2008 presidential bid.^[19]

On November 2, 2010, DeWine was elected Attorney General of the state of Ohio, defeating incumbent Richard Cordray (D) 48%-46%.^[20]

In the 2012 Republican presidential primary, DeWine initially endorsed Tim Pawlenty, then endorsed Mitt Romney after Pawlenty dropped out of the race. On February 17, 2012, DeWine announced he was retracting his endorsement of Mitt Romney and endorsed Rick Santorum. DeWine said, "To be elected president, you have to do more than tear down your opponents. You have to give the American people a reason to vote for you, a reason to hope, a reason to believe that under your leadership, America will be better. Rick Santorum has done that. Sadly, Governor Romney has not."^[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Campaign website for Attorney General

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org

v t e Current elected statewide political officials of Ohio U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown Rob Portman State government John Kasich, Governor Mary Taylor, Lieutenant Governor Jon A. Husted, Secretary of State Mike DeWine, Attorney General Dave Yost, State Auditor Josh Mandel, Treasurer Senate Tom Niehaus, President Keith Faber, President pro tempore Vacant, Majority Leader Capri Cafaro, Minority Leader House William G. Batchelder, Speaker Lou Blessing, Speaker pro tempore Matt Huffman, Majority Leader Armond Budish, Minority Leader Supreme Court Maureen O'Connor, Chief Justice Paul Pfeifer Evelyn Lundberg Stratton Terrence O'Donnell Judith Ann Lanzinger Robert R. Cupp Yvette McGee Brown AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

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v t e Ohio Attorney General Stanbery · McCormick · Pugh · McCook · Kimball · Wolcott · Murray · Critchfield · Richardson · Olds · West · Pond · Little · Pillars · Nash · Hollingsworth · Lawrence · Kohler · Watson · Richards · Monnette · Sheets · Ellis · Denman · Hogan · Turner · McGhee · Price · Crabbe · Turner · Bettman · Bricker · Duffy · Herbert · Jenkins · Duffy · O'Neill · Saxbe · McElroy · Saxbe · Brown, P. · Brown, W. · Celebrezze · Fisher · Montgomery · Petro · Dann · Rogers · Cordray · DeWine

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v t e United States Senators from Ohio Class 1 Smith Meigs Worthington Kerr Ruggles Morris Tappan Corwin Ewing Wade Thurman Sherman Hanna Dick Pomerene Fess Donahey H. Burton Huffman K. Taft Bricker Young R. Taft, Jr. Metzenbaum DeWine S. Brown Class 3 Worthington Tiffin Griswold Campbell Morrow Trimble E. Brown Harrison Burnet Ewing Allen Chase Pugh Chase Sherman Matthews Pendleton Payne Brice Foraker T. Burton Harding Willis Locher T. Burton McCulloch Bulkley R. Taft, Sr. Burke Bender Lausche Saxbe Metzenbaum Glenn Voinovich Portman

Ted Strickland
Strickland in 2009.
68th Governor of Ohio
In office January 8, 2007 – January 9, 2011
Lieutenant	Lee Fisher
Preceded by	Bob Taft
Succeeded by	John Kasich
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 6th district
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Frank Cremeans
Succeeded by	Charlie Wilson
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Bob McEwen
Succeeded by	Frank Cremeans
Personal details
Born	Theodore Strickland (1941-08-04) August 4, 1941 (age 70) Lucasville, Ohio, United States
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Frances
Alma mater	Asbury College University of Kentucky Asbury Theological Seminary
Profession	Psychologist Professor
Religion	Methodism
Signature

Theodore "Ted" Strickland^[1] (born August 4, 1941) was the 68th Governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 6th congressional district (1993-1995, 1997-2007).^[2]

In the 2006 gubernatorial election, Strickland was elected to succeed term-limited Republican incumbent Bob Taft after defeating Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, receiving 60% of the vote.^[3] However, he was narrowly defeated for re-election in the 2010 gubernatorial election by former U.S. Representative John Kasich.^[4]

Strickland currently serves as a member of the Governors' Council at the Bipartisan Policy Center.^[5]

Early life[link]

Born in Lucasville, Ohio, Strickland was one of nine children; his father was a steelworker. A 1959 graduate of Northwest High School, Strickland went on to be the first member of his family to attend college.^[6] Strickland was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in psychology from Asbury College in 1963. In 1966, he received a Master of Arts degree in guidance counseling from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Divinity from the Asbury Theological Seminary in 1967. He then returned to the University of Kentucky to earn his Ph.D in counseling psychology in 1980. He is married to Frances Strickland, an educational psychologist and author of a widely used screening test for kindergarten-age children.

Strickland worked as a counseling psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio He was an administrator at a Methodist children's home and was a professor of psychology at Shawnee State University. His only known pastoral position within a church was a very brief associate pastoral position at Wesley United Methodist Church located at the corner of Offnere and Gallia Streets, Portsmouth, Ohio (now Cornerstone United Methodist Church).

Election to Congress[link]

Strickland ran for U.S. representative for Ohio's 6th congressional district in 1976, 1978, and 1980, losing twice to long-time incumbent William H. Harsha and later to Harsha's successor and campaign manager, Bob McEwen.

Strickland ran again for the 6th District seat in 1992, once again facing Bob McEwen, who had suffered some political damage by being associated with the House banking scandal. The 6th District had been combined with the old 10th District when Ohio lost two seats in Congress following the 1990 census and now covered a huge area stretching from Lebanon, in Warren County, to Marietta, in Washington County on the opposite side of the state. The district proved a difficult place to campaign, representing half a dozen different media markets and home to no large cities and few unifying influences.

Patrick J. Buchanan, Vice President Dan Quayle, and Oliver North came to Ohio to campaign for McEwen, but Strickland narrowly won in the general election on November 3, 1992. He received 122,720 votes to McEwen's 119,252, a plurality of only 3,468 - just over 1.4%. Strickland said "I ran against Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, the National Rifle Association, and Right-to-Life. They threw everything at me. I'm just so happy I beat back those guys. I think they're so divisive." Strickland began serving in January 1993 (103rd Congress).

Congressional career[link]

In 1994, the Republican wave swamped Strickland, who narrowly lost his seat to Republican Frank Cremeans. In 1996, however, Strickland narrowly won his seat back, taking office in January 1997 (the 105th Congress). He faced a strong challenge from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Hollister in 1998, but turned it back fairly easily. He wasn't seriously challenged again after this and was reelected three more times, and even ran unopposed in 2004. Strickland served on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

2006 Ohio gubernatorial campaign[link]

Strickland successfully ran for Governor of Ohio in 2006, when Governor Bob Taft was term-limited and could not run for re-election. Strickland selected former Ohio Attorney General and 1998 Democratic nominee for governor Lee Fisher as his running mate. He was sworn in as governor on January 8, 2007.^[7]

Strickland easily won the Democratic primary on May 2, 2006, winning 80 percent of the vote.^[8] In the November general election, he was challenged by Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Libertarian economist Bill Peirce and Green Bob Fitrakis, but won handily on November 7, 2006, capturing 60% of the vote. Blackwell finished in a distant second with 37% of the vote.^[9]

He was endorsed by the Associated General Contractors of Ohio, Fraternal Order of Police,^[10] National Association of Police Organizations, Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Ohio Trooper Coalition, Ohio Education Association, Ohio Federation of Teachers,^[11] Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters, Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, National Rifle Association, The Akron Beacon Journal, The Columbus Dispatch, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Dayton Daily News, The Toledo Blade, The Canton Repository, Mayor Mark L. Mallory of Cincinnati, Mayor Frank G. Jackson of Cleveland, Mayor Michael B. Coleman of Columbus, Mayor Rhine McLin of Dayton, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner of Toledo, and Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown.

Media strategy[link]

Strickland began his media campaign for the general election in July by purchasing airtime on Christian radio stations throughout the state. The ad cited a verse from the Book of Micah, calling one "to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God." His televised ads began airing in late September 2006.^[12]

Republican support[link]

Strickland's candidacy received some support from Republicans, indicated by many of the pollsters covering the race.^[13] Additionally, a number of high profile Republicans publicly announced their support for Strickland at a press conference on September 12,^[14] and Strickland's website launched "Republicans For Strickland,"^[15] which lists over 340 registered Republican endorsers.

Gubernatorial career[link]

Economy[link]

The Strickland administration was largely marred economically by the national Great Recession, which saw employment shrink during his term in the state by 236,000.^[16] Between December 2009 and August 2010, however, employment grew in the state by 57,000 positions.^[16] The unemployment percentage peaked at 11.0% in March 2010, but had dropped to 10.1% by August of that year.^[16] By the fall of 2010, the state had the sixth-fastest growing economy in the country.^[17]

Under Strickland the state won the Governor's Cup award from Site Selection Magazine, based on top states for economic development, for his first three years in office.^[18] By 2010, the state's business climate had improved from #38 in the nation and #7 in the Midwest when Strickland was elected to #11 in the nation and #1 in the Midwest according to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council.^[19]

He continued to support many of the economic policies of the previous administration under Bob Taft, including H.B. 66, which eliminated the corporate franchise tax in 2010, the tangible personal property tax in 2009, and overall a 17% reduction in personal taxes since 2004.^[19] The state had improved to the #15 best personal tax environment by 2009.^[19] He supported the renewal of the Third Frontier program in 2010,^[20] which won the International Economic Development Council's Excellence in Economic Development Award later that year.^[21]

Strickland eliminated nearly 250 state business regulations and revised over 1800 to better accommodate growth.^[19] He expanded small business credits and proposed the "Build Your Own Business" program, which will facilitate $5,000 micro loans to participants.^[19] He passed a unanimous budget of $52 billion over the two fiscal years beginning July 2007 with line-item vetoes; this unanimous approval of the budget was the state's first in 84 years,^[22] and during his term he reduced the size of state government by 7%, or 5,000 employees.^[23]

In 2008, he signed the state's renewable portfolio standard, calling for 25% of the state's energy to be produced by renewables by 2025.^[24] By 2010, the state was ranked #2 in solar production and continued to be a top-five state for "green energy" production.^[17][25]

Education[link]

He had made education a centerpiece of his administration, establishing the University System of Ohio ^[26] in 2007 as a way to get more Ohioans access to a state-sponsored college, to graduate from in-state public universities, and thus stay in-state for quality jobs. The University System of Ohio is now the nation's largest comprehensive public system of higher education.^[27] Between 2009-2010, enrollment at four-year institutions increased by 8%, while enrollment at two-year institutions increased 23%.^[28]

Strickland presided over the largest total budget spending on primary education since 1980, including $4 billion for new and better school construction, 250 of which will be "green" schools.^[29] When he took office, only 491 of Ohio's 613 public school districts were rated effective or higher and #27 in the nation by Education Week.^[28] By 2010, 536 had reached the effective or higher mark and were ranked #5 by Education Week.^[28][29][30]