By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
More than a year out from the next gubernatorial election, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine brought his early campaign for the office to Bowling Green on Thursday.
DeWine, a favorite for the Republican ticket for governor, spoke at the party’s Lincoln Day Dinner at Stone Ridge Golf Club.
As attorney general, DeWine has worked to strenghten victims’ rights and to correct some wrongs in the legal system. He spearheaded efforts to get hundreds of sexual assault kits tested after they had languished for years in evidence rooms. Many of those have resulted in DNA matches with people already in the system.
DeWine has worked with State Senator Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, to create a violent offender registry. This was done in response to the abduction and murder of Sierah Joughin, 20, in Fulton County. Like the sex offender registry, this registry would notify communities of someone with a violent criminal past living nearby.
And DeWine continues to work on solutions to the opiate epidemic in Ohio. Following the advice of people with addiction experience, DeWine said more emphasis needs to be put on K-12 age appropriate education on drugs, “to lessen people going down the path of addiction.”
“As attorney general, sometimes I feel I’m picking up the pieces” after problems occur, he said before speaking Thursday evening.
So he’s now looking at getting in front of problems – as governor.
DeWine and others arriving at the Lincoln Day Dinner drove past a group of protesters at the entrance to the golf club.
“One of the lessons from the last election is that people want government that works,” he said. “They want people in office to make things happen.”
DeWine said he plans to do that as governor.
One of his goals would be to create a business climate for job growth. That means stable taxes that are predictable from year to year for businesses.
“We need to keep regulations reasonable,” he added.
The number one concern of the business community right now, he said, is education. They can’t find people with the right skills, and in some cases, can’t find people who can pass drug testing. And some can’t find people who “know how to work,” he said. Businesses in Wood County have expressed those concerns.
The biggest overall problem DeWine sees in Ohio is stressed and dysfunctional homes. “People can’t live the American dream,” he said. “There are a significant number of people who can’t live up to their potential.”
“Jobs do solve an awful lot of problems,” he said.
The problems begin early, with at-risk youth not getting what they need. “We’re only reaching a fraction of the kids,” DeWine said.
DeWine said he hopes to change that as governor.
“We can use the bully pulpit of the office to hold up what works,” he said.
