CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Former U.S. Senator and current Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine formally announced Sunday that he is a candidate for the Ohio Governor’s race in 2018.
DeWine used the occasion of his annual Ice Cream Social, held on the lawn of his family home in Cedarville, to confirm what the political world in Ohio has known for months — that he will seek the Republican nomination in next spring’s primary for governor.
“Ohio is a great state,” DeWine told a crowd of supporters, “but we have some very significant problems … The tragedy of our state today is that too many Ohioans will never realize their dreams because they simply lack the education, the skills, the training — and, in too many cases, the sobriety.”
DeWine staked out a determination and commitment to tackle and defeat the interrelated problems of the lack of quality education for all Ohio children, the need for filling jobs with skilled employees, and Ohio’s drug and opioid crisis.
Citing education, DeWine called it a tragedy “to know what works, to have schools that excel, and yet still have kids going to schools that are broken.” DeWine said he would bring his work ethic to identifying, celebrating, and expanding good schools, while getting help for failing schools.
“When I am Governor, our state will be fundamentally different, because I will focus like a laser … to champion schools that work and hold them up as examples that should be replicated in communities all across the state,” he said.
Regarding the crisis of addiction, DeWine said, “We cannot sit by as we lose a generation of children to addiction. When I am governor, we will get ahead of this problem.” Strategies he cited include much more aggressive drug prevention education, starting early in primary school, and the continuation and replication of local grassroots efforts that include law enforcement and the faith-based community.
To build Ohio’s jobs base, DeWine said he would “free up Ohio’s economy from stifling regulations so that businesses can thrive,” and that “we need to keep taxes low; make our tax system system fair and predictable; and encourage individuals and businesses to invest in Ohio.”
“I promise you this,” DeWine added, “no one will be a stronger, more outspoken advocate for our great State of Ohio than Mike DeWine.”
Parent of eight and grandparent of 22, DeWine emphasized the importance of family in driving his approach to governing. “What we should want for Ohio is what Fran and I want for our own children and grandchildren – that is that they live up to their God-given potential, that they find work that is meaningful and for which they have a passion, and that they have the opportunity to live their own American dream,” he said.
Besides the formal announcement, DeWine’s entry into the race will include a tour of cities throughout Ohio, including Independence, Youngstown, Maumee, Cincinnati, Dublin, and New Boston.
