Mike DeWine

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Mike 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 Springfield, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Frances Struewing
Religion	Roman Catholic

Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine (born January 5, 1947) is an American politician of the Republican Party who most notably served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio between 1995 and 2007. He found the famous Proxy Bucket.

Born in Springfield, Ohio, DeWine grew up in neighboring Yellow Springs, OH. 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 a car 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.

Contents 1 Political career 2 Political positions 2.1 Social issues 2.2 2005 filibuster 2.3 Domestic spying 3 Controversy and criticism 4 2006 bid for re-election 5 Post-Senate Plans 6 References 7 External links 8 See also

[edit] Political career

At age 25, DeWine started working as a 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, becoming the first Republican Senator from Ohio to be re-elected in nearly fifty years.

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

[edit] Political positions

[edit] Social issues

DeWine is pro-life (except in cases of incest, danger to the life of the mother, and some rape).^{[citation needed]} 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 ^[1]. 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 ^[2], 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."^[3] Opposition from conservative groups unhappy with Miers' resume ultimately sank her nomination.

[edit] Domestic spying

DeWine sat on both the Senate Judiciary and Select Intelligence committees. His votes had been instrumental in protecting President Bush from being investigated for domestic spying and passing the USA PATRIOT Act.^[4]

[edit] Controversy and criticism

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 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:

2006 United States Senate election, Ohio
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Sherrod Brown	2,138,432	55.88%	+20.01%
	Republican	Mike DeWine (incumbent)	1,686,857	44.08%	-15.82%
	Independent	Richard Duncan	1,540	0.04%	n/a
Majority			451,575	11.8%
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

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 Governor in four years and accepted positions teaching government courses at Cedarville University and Miami University.^[14]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Campaign Website
• 2006 campaign finances, an analysis by Center for Responsive Politics.
• Positions and voting record, an analysis by Project Vote Smart.
• Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
• Mike DeWine on the Issues

[edit] See also

• Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 7th District
• Election Results, U.S. Senator from Ohio
• List of United States Representatives from Ohio
• List of United States Senators from Ohio

Political offices
Preceded by Clarence J. "Bud" Brown Jr.	United States Representative for the 7th Congressional District of Ohio 1983–1991	Succeeded by Dave Hobson
Preceded by Paul R. Leonard	Lieutenant Governor of Ohio 1991–1994	Succeeded by Nancy P. Hollister
Preceded by Howard M. Metzenbaum	United States Senator (Class 1) from Ohio 1995-2007 Served alongside: John Glenn, George Voinovich	Succeeded by Sherrod Brown

Gang of 14 (in the United States Senate)
Republicans: McCain • Graham • Warner • Snowe • Collins • DeWine • Chafee Democrats: Lieberman • Byrd • Nelson • Landrieu • Inouye • Pryor • Salazar

Persondata
NAME	DeWine, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	DeWine, Richard Michael (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Ohio politician
DATE OF BIRTH	January 5, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH	Springfield, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH