Buckeye Reporter

John Becker said it’s not something he wants to do, and still hopes he doesn’t have to follow through on.

But the Republican state representative from Union Township in Clermont County said he is prepared to move forward with an impeachment effort against Gov. Mike DeWine for his handing of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, Becker, in his fourth term representing District 65, said the statewide mask mandate and allowing some companies to remain open while he ordered others closed amounted to unconstitutional abuses of power.

State Rep. John Becker | www.ohiohouse.gov

He also said DeWine usurped legislative authority when he moved the date of the primary from March 17 to June 2.

Becker, 59, said DeWine’s actions are in direct violation of both the state and federal Constitutions, as well as several sections of state law. Becker has drafted articles of impeachment and is allowing the public to view them and offer their thoughts.

“They aren’t filed yet. They are drafted and I made the draft public,” Becker told Buckeye Reporter. “With the masks in schools mandate and the 10 p.m. bars ‘last call’ time, those were the last straws for many of my constituents. I’ve been hearing their cries for help for months. The chorus of calls for impeachment suddenly grew louder and more intense. It was time to move forward.”

He said he intends to file the 10 articles of impeachment, and hopes other legislators to join him, but “they want to avoid the issue,” Becker said.

“I’ll hold the draft open for maybe a few more weeks to allow the public to contact their state representative,” he said. “Once filed, that closes the opportunity for additional co-sponsors.”

Three fellow conservative Republicans, state Reps. Candice Keller of Middletown, Paul Zeltwanger of Mason and Nino Vitale of Urbana, have announced their support for impeaching and removing DeWine.

Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) said impeachment was not the correct move, and would create "a state constitutional crisis” unnecessary at this time.

“Even serious policy disagreements do not rise to the level of impeachment under our constitution,” Cup said in a statement on the same day Becker unveiled his draft.

Becker, a tax accountant and utility consultant who has said he is the “most conservative” member of the Ohio Legislature, said he has received “strong support” from his constituents for the idea. 

Will it succeed?

“That depends on the public,” he said. “If they want it to succeed, they will make it happen.”

When he announced the impeachment effort on Aug. 24, Becker said he did so reluctantly.

“I kept holding out hope that we wouldn’t get to this place. For months and months, I’ve been hearing the cries of my constituents and of suffering people from every corner of Ohio,” he said in a statement. “They keep screaming, ‘DO SOMETHING!’ They are hurting. Their businesses are declining and depreciating. Their jobs have vanished. The communities that have sustained their lives are collapsing, and becoming shells of what they once were.

“Living in fear, many have turned to drugs and yes, even suicide, to end or tolerate the unbearable pain inflicted by the governor upon their livelihoods, and the damage caused by his unraveling of the fabric of Ohio. It is long past time to put an end to government gone wild.”

In order to remove an Ohio governor, a majority of members of the state House of Representatives – 50 – must vote to impeach, followed by a two-thirds majority – 22 – in the Ohio Senate to convict.

DeWine, a 73-year-old Republican, has had a long and varied public career, starting as a Greene County prosecutor, then serving a single term as state senator before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served four terms.

He then ran for and was elected lieutenant governor before moving to the U.S. Senate where he served two terms before being defeated in a bid for a third in 2006. He resurfaced as Ohio’s attorney general in 2010 and served two terms before being elected governor in 2018.

The governor said he was not paying any attention to Becker’s impeachment efforts.

“Gov. DeWine is focused on saving lives during the pandemic,” his office said in a release. “He is focused on helping the economy and getting Ohioans back to work. That is what he is focused on. Not this.”

A Quinnipiac University poll of Ohio registered voters released on June 24 showed DeWine had strong support across the state, with 75% approving of his work while 19% disapproved.