Ohio Republican Senate nominee?
$92.0K
MAY 6, 2026Primary Election
Party selects its nominee.
Overview
Current roleGovernor
PartyRepublican
Political ideologyMainstream Republican
Age79 years old (Jan 5, 1947)
GenderMale
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LocationOhio
BackgroundAttorney
EducationMiami University (B.S.)
Notable personal detailsRichard Michael “Mike” DeWine is an American attorney and Republican politician who has served as the 70th Governor of Ohio since 2019. His public service career has included roles as Greene County Prosecutor, Ohio State Senator, U.S. Representative, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, U.S. Senator, and Ohio Attorney General. He earned a B.S. from Miami University and a J.D. from Ohio Northern University.
SourcesShowHide
Positions
Economy & Taxes
Mike DeWine has overseen and signed state budgets that cut Ohio income tax rates and reduced tax brackets, while supporting targeted tax relief for families (including a proposed child tax credit). He has also proposed higher taxes on cigarettes, marijuana sales, and gambling operators to fund specific programs, and he has rejected proposals to fully eliminate the state income tax.
Healthcare
As Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine has maintained Medicaid expansion while pursuing reforms that impose eligibility conditions such as work requirements and wellness incentives. His administration submitted a Section 1115 waiver request (February–March 2025) to reinstate work requirements for certain Medicaid expansion enrollees and has described these changes as promoting self-sufficiency. He has not endorsed single-payer or Medicare-for-All proposals and frames reforms around program sustainability and employment pathways.
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Immigration & Border
Supports cooperating with federal immigration enforcement and has praised efforts to secure the southern border, while also defending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants and urging humane, fact-based treatment of immigrant communities. Statements mix enforcement-support (cooperation with ICE, interest in border control) and pro-immigrant positions (opposing revocation of TPS, highlighting immigrants’ economic contributions).
Abortion & Reproductive Rights
Supports strict limits on abortion, including signing Ohio’s ‘heartbeat’ law that prohibits abortion once fetal cardiac activity is detected and backing measures that restrict access with limited exceptions for the life of the mother. Has supported other restrictive measures such as laws governing fetal remains and has opposed broad abortion rights protections.
Climate & Energy
Mike DeWine's actions and policy initiatives as Ohio governor prioritize energy reliability and economic development with strong support for natural gas and nuclear power, initiatives to expand baseload generation, and measures that increase local control over wind and solar siting. He has signed legislation and promoted programs that treat natural gas and nuclear as key parts of Ohio's energy strategy and has not advanced aggressive emissions-reduction or Green New Deal–style policies.
Public Safety & Guns
Mike DeWine has supported measures to expand background checks and court-issued safety protection orders aimed at keeping firearms from people deemed dangerous, while later signing a 2022 law that removed the permit and training requirement for concealed carry in Ohio. His record includes proposals for stronger penalties for illegal transfers and steps to improve law-enforcement databases alongside actions that loosen carry rules. Overall his positions include both gun-safety proposals and deregulatory, pro–Second Amendment steps.
News
Mike DeWine is in the news because he pushed back on a campaign ad in Ohio’s 2026 governor’s race, saying it wrongly blames Amy Acton for the delayed 2020 primary and that he, not Acton, made the decision to close in-person voting during the COVID-19 emergency. The dispute comes as the governor’s race remains close in polling. Ohio’s 2026 primary and other statewide races are also moving forward, keeping DeWine tied to a busy election cycle in the state.
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New updates coming soon
We're monitoring and will update when new data impacts the race.
- Polls
- Endorsements
- Fundraising