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

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