Mike DeWine

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Richard Michael DeWine
United States Senator from Ohio
In office January 4, 1995 – January 4, 2007
Preceded by	Howard M. Metzenbaum
Succeeded by	Sherrod Brown
Born	January 5, 1947 (1947-01-05) (age 61) Springfield, Ohio
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Frances Struewing
Alma mater	Miami University
Religion	Roman Catholic

Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine (born January 5, 1947) is a former Republican senator from Ohio.

Born in Springfield, Ohio, to Jean and Richard L. DeWine,^[1] DeWine grew up in neighboring Yellow Springs, Ohio. DeWine earned a bachelor's degree in education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1969 and a Juris Doctor degree from Ohio Northern University in 1972.

He and his wife Frances have had eight children, one of whom died in an automobile accident in 1993. Hamilton County, Ohio, Commissioner R. Patrick DeWine is Mike DeWine's son. Ohio state representative Kevin DeWine (R-Fairborn) is DeWine's second cousin.

[edit] Political career

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 before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1982. He was re-elected three times, serving for a total of eight years.

In 1990, he left the House and was elected the 59th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, and served in that position from 1991 to 1995. While Lieutenant Governor, he failed in a bid to unseat Senator John Glenn in 1992.

In 1994, DeWine was elected to the United States Senate, defeating prominent attorney Joel Hyatt (the son-in-law of the then-incumbent U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum). DeWine was reelected in 2000, defeating former U.S. Rep. Frank Cremeans in the primary and Ted Celeste (brother of former Ohio Gov. Richard F. Celeste) in the general election.

DeWine was defeated in the 2006 midterm elections by Democrat Sherrod Brown.

[edit] Political positions

[edit] Social issues

DeWine is pro-life. He sponsored the Federal Marriage Amendment but opposed State Issue 1, Ohio's Defense of Marriage Amendment, due to the technical wording of the measure, which he felt would restrict the rights of heterosexual partnerships as well.^{[citation needed]}

DeWine is a supporter of gun control laws, and in 2004 he co-sponsored an amendment to renew the ban on common semi-automatic weapons^[2]. This earned him 'F' ratings from the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America[1]. On July 29, 2005, he was one of only two Republican senators to vote against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act ^[3], which banned lawsuits against gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers for criminal misuse of their products.

DeWine has also broken with his party on issues such as funding for Head Start programs,^{[citation needed]} the federal minimum wage^{[citation needed]} and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2005 filibuster

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."^[4] Opposition from conservative groups unhappy with Miers' resume ultimately sank her nomination.

[edit] Senate Committees

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

[edit] Controversy and criticism

DeWine's attack ad against Brown used doctored imagery of 9/11.

On July 14, 2006, DeWine's campaign began airing TV commercials depicting a smoking World Trade Center. "The senator was notified... by a reporter at U.S. News & World Report that the image of the burning Twin Towers could not have depicted the actual event because the smoke was blowing the wrong way."^[5][6] DeWine's campaign admitted that the video was actually a still photo of the World Trade Center with smoke digitally added.^[7] He also was criticized for using an emotionally charged image to attack his challenger.^[8]

Another of DeWine's ads suggested that opponent Sherrod Brown didn't pay his taxes for thirteen years. This claim led to the Associated Press reporting on October 19 that, "Several Ohio television stations have stopped airing a Republican ad because state documents contradict the ad's accusation that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown didn't pay an unemployment tax bill for 13 years." Brown produced a commercial citing these facts. [2] DeWine's ads were changed to state only that he had failed to pay his unemployment taxes until legal action was taken against him.

DeWine has also been criticized on the issue of national security. Pundit Bob Geiger has noted that DeWine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has missed nearly 50% of that committee's public hearings. Rand Beers, an intelligence critic and expert who has served during the Bush and Clinton administrations, asserted that DeWine's attendance at the Committee's closed meetings has not been better, charging that "he is not a particularly active member."^[9]

[edit] 2006 bid for re-election

Main article: Ohio United States Senate election, 2006

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.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.

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.^[12]

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.^[13]

[edit] Post-Senate Plans

Senator DeWine is reportedly exploring a run for Ohio Attorney General in four years and accepted positions teaching government courses at Cedarville University, Ohio Northern University and Miami University. He is also advising the Ohio campaign of Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who is seeking his party's nomination for President.^[14]

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

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

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