Ohio Governor Mike DeWine delivers his State of the State address in the Ohio House chambers at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (Pool photo: Samantha Madar, Columbus Dispatch.)
There’s just over a year left in Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s term, and as time passes, he’s wondering how best to protect his accomplishments before he leaves office.
There are also a number of significant legal acts on his desk awaiting decision.
DeWine spoke about his plans at the annual breakfast for reporters held at the Governor’s Mansion in Bexley last Thursday.
Heritage
As he stood to speak, DeWine addressed the question of how he would end his senior year with a petite black box in his hand.
“I actually got it from former Gov. Jeb Bush,” he said. “It’s a countdown clock. We have exactly 395 days, 16 hours, 29 minutes and one second.”
He explained that the ticking clock is encouraging his administration to approach the work with a “great sense of urgency.”
One of the association’s main activities was related to reading.
In addition to First Lady Fran DeWine supporting Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – “We’re number one in the country,” she noted – Governor DeWine forced schools to adopt a phonics-based curriculum for teenage readers as well as future teachers.
“It’s a very unusual thing,” he said, “but the evidence is, as you heard me say, just overwhelming.”
“Listen, kids only get one chance to grow up,” DeWine added. “So if you miss this opportunity, the child won’t be able to read. Yes, he can learn to read later, but it’s much more difficult.”
In connection with these actions, the governor announced a children’s eye care program earlier this year.
State law already requires basic vision screenings, but many children do not receive the follow-up care they need. DeWine OhioSEE Pilot Program will operate mobile clinics to serve students in kindergarten through third grade in 15 counties.
“Honestly, one of my goals is to show how effective and cost-effective it is,” he said, “so that when this term is over, it will be established and the next governor will want to continue it, not just continue it, but expand it to all 88 counties.”
Short
This next governor appears likely to be a departure from DeWine’s term.
If Ohioans elect a Democrat like current front-runner Amy Acton, they would put another party in the Governor’s Mansion for the first time since 2011.
But if voters choose current GOP leader Vivek Ramaswamy, they will get a different kind of Republican.
Ramaswamy made a name for himself as a culture warrior, writing books criticizing “woke” politics before founding… quixotic presidential campaign is based on the fight against the “secular religions” of “COVID-ism, climateism and gender ideology.”
When DeWine he vetoed this solution banning gender-affirming care for minors, Ramaswamy wrote on social media: “Shame on Ohio Governor Mike DeWine for this failure.”
DeWine has insisted he plans to endorse the Republican candidate for governor “at some point,” but has not yet formally done so.
The governor said he had held policy discussions with Ramaswamy “and I enjoyed those discussions” but was cautious about the delay.
There are two genders.
Boys should not compete with girls in girls’ sports.
Children should not undergo genital mutilation or chemical castration if they have a mental disorder.
Shame on Ohio Governor Mike DeWine for this failure. https://t.co/bwD2Fj8ynz
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRAmaswamy) December 29, 2023
“We are still in discussions,” DeWine said. “I want to better understand his position, what his vision is and I would say the discussions have been good. And of course I want to talk to him about some of the things I see.”
DeWine hasn’t been very outspoken about the significant voting bill that landed on his desk on Wednesday.
This solution would invalidate any absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day.
Currently, ballots sent before Election Day have four days to be delivered.
Supporters of the bill, including Secretary of State Frank LaRose, readily admit that thousands of valid ballots were received after Election Day 2024.
However, they dismiss them as a petite fraction of the electorate and suggest that voters will adapt to the changing deadline.
In 2023 when DeWine approved the voter photo ID billhe said it should resolve any election integrity issues, “and I don’t expect any further statutory changes to Ohio’s voting procedures while I’m governor.”
As for the pending bill, he said only: “I’m looking at it at this point and we’ll have more to announce.”
The governor was more positive on a number of property tax measures and the recent cannabis measure agreed to between the Ohio House and Senate.
“Yes, I will sign the bill,” he said of the marijuana bill, praising it for solving the “hemp juice” problem.
The longer
DeWine also called for compromise on redistricting and immigration.
Ohio’s redistricting debacle after the 2020 census left a bitter aftertaste, and the governor has since called out Iowa’s approach.
There, nonpartisan legislative staff set the boundaries and lawmakers decide for or against.
It’s time for a change, DeWine said, with the next presidential election and census in a few years.
“You know, if there’s a citizen group that wants to put something like the Iowa plan on the ballot, I’m all for it,” DeWine said.
The governor also described immigration as an opportunity that “I don’t know if we’re going to take advantage of.” DeWine noted that he was in Congress when significant immigration policy was last signed into law.
That was almost 40 years ago.
DeWine praised the Trump administration for dramatically reducing border crossings, but added: “For me, this presents an opportunity to have a conversation about what should legal immigration be?”
DeWine addressed former Republican U.S. Senator from Texas Phil Gramm’s claim that “there is always room in the country for people who want to pull the wagon” and stated that it is “crazy” the way we treat international students.
“So we educated them here in the United States,” DeWine said, “so they could contribute to our economy and our country and make our country better. And we tell a lot of them they have to come back.”
“Some of the things we do,” he added, “are not really good decisions.”
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