ASHLAND — Ohio’s Republican governor candidate Mike DeWine and other Ohio Republicans hit on both statewide and national hot-button topics during a rally in Ashland on Sunday afternoon.
Hosted in the parking lot of Fin Feather Fur Outfitters, DeWine was joined by State Sen. Larry Obhof and U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs. The three men discussed Issue 1, the second amendment, and the new makeup of the Supreme Court.
Obhof began by touting the progress Ohio has made since John Kasich became governor in 2010 – cutting taxes, restraining regulations on the growth of government, and getting red tape out of the way for small business owners.
“Our unemployment rate is less than half of what it was in 2011, and we’ve cut taxes by more than $5 billion across the board,” Obhof said. “All those things have us headed in the right direction.”
Standing in the shadow of Ashland’s largest sporting goods store, the second amendment was a natural topic of discussion.
“I know we’re all here to talk about the second amendment,” Obhof said. “Mike is a great supporter of the second amendment, as is his running mate Jon Husted, and every member of the statewide Republican ticket, and as of yesterday evening so is the U.S. Supreme Court once again.”
On Saturday evening, Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court after a contentious confirmation process that included a sexual assault allegation and a strong and emotional denial.
Rep. Bob Gibbs, representing Ohio’s 7th District, talked on Sunday about results versus resistance at the federal level.
“We saw the resistance hit the high point the last few days with what the Democrats did to Judge Kavanaugh – now Justice Kavanaugh,” Gibbs said. “I think they actually hurt themselves because it really illustrates what they’re all about. They’re about power and control, and they’ll do anything to get there.”
Gibbs also touched on the upcoming midterm elections at the federal level, and the “blue wave” the Democratic party hopes to bring in order to stop the Republican agenda. He also said some Democrats are running to bring socialist ideals into the government.
“That really offends me,” Gibbs said. “Our system creates entrepreneurship, innovation, competition and opportunity. Where you have socialism, mediocracy is the high bar. Medicare for all, free education, free lunch for everybody. It’s really disgusting.”
DeWine’s stance on the second amendment was what drew Robin Hawkins and her 14-year-old daughter Abigail to Sunday’s rally — that and meeting DeWine’s wife Fran.
“Fran is the real draw, I really enjoy her,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins also appreciated DeWine’s stance against Issue 1.
“To me it’s a no-brainer, and it shocks me that any opponent is even advocating for that,” she said. “I can’t imagine that anybody with any common sense or children or grandchildren would even advocate for that.”
DeWine noted state Issue 1 is one subject where the two candidates are starkly opposed. Issue 1 was designed to reduce the number of people in state prisons for low-level, nonviolent crimes such as drug possession and non-criminal probation violations.
Passing Issue 1 would make the possession, obtainment and use of drugs no more than a misdemeanor, with sentences no greater than probation for first and second offenses.
“What this law would say is anyone who has enough Fentanyl to kill 10,000 people – under 20 grams – is no longer a felony but a misdemeanor, and a misdemeanor with no jail time,” DeWine said.
Richland County Commissioners, judges and local law enforcement also encouraged voters to say “no” to Issue 1 at their Oct. 2 meeting.
“It’s not just about Issue 1,” DeWine said. “It is frankly about judgment, and Richard Cordray’s lack of judgment.”
All three politicians present on Sunday compared DeWine’s record as Attorney General to Cordray’s, who served as Ohio’s Attorney General from 2009 to 2011.
“Ten years ago, thousands of DNA kits from rapes and other sexual assaults (were left) sitting on the shelves in Ohio,” Obhof said. “Mike DeWine spearheaded the effort to fix that problem, get rid of the backlog and bring justice to the victims. When Richard Cordray was Attorney General, he didn’t do that.”
DeWine launched the Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative after his election in 2011. Under that initiative, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has tested all 13,931 rape kits submitted by local law enforcement for DNA testing.
According to statistics recently released by DeWine’s office, a total of 5,024 matches to offenders’ DNA have been obtained based on DNA profiles already in the state’s crime database. Charges have been filed against hundreds of attackers.
“This means justice for the victims,” DeWine said. “I don’t use the word ‘closure’ because I don’t think that’s the right word, but we were able to tell victims the truth, we were able to tell them who did it, and we were able to get justice for those victims. And talking to those victims has been an amazing thing.”
Supporters of Cordray note that as Attorney General, Cordray inherited a huge backlog and invested in new robotics that allow the state to test more rape kits more quickly. DeWine, they say, benefited from the new technology he inherited from Cordray’s time in office.
As the rally concluded, DeWine took questions from the audience. Jeff Stenroos, of Bath Township, asked DeWine to respond to an article from the Akron-Beacon Journal stating that DeWine said he would veto right-to-work legislation requiring public employee unions to get annual permission from workers to withhold dues from paychecks.
“We have a lot of things to do in this state,” DeWine responded. “If you’re going to lead you darn well better know where you’re going when you walk in the door. We’ve got things we need to do with early childhood development, with education, a lot of things to do with the drug problem.
“I believe a battle over right-to-work would be a mistake. To me, we’ve got things we need to do quick when we get in office.”
Stenroos said he thought DeWine gave a very “credible” response.
“That made sense to me; I’m satisfied with how he plans to spend his energy, and I agree with him,” Stenroos said. “I didn’t before I heard him speak, but I do now.”
